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Institute  of  Industrial  l?elatioi* 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles  24 ».  California 


The  Class  Struggle 

(ERFURT   PROGRAM) 


By  KARL  KAUTSKY 
Translated  by  WILLIAM  E.  BOHN. 


on, 
re- 
•ate 
■cial 
;un- 
pro- 
still 


CHICAGO 
CHARLES  H.  KERR  &   (.^)MPANY 
CO-OPERATIVE 


CbPYBIGHT,    1910. 

By  Charles  H.  Kekr  &  Cqmpany 


Inst.  Indus. 
Ret. 


H  /-■ 

/.-  •        - 

TRANSLATOR'S  NOTE. 

At  Erfurt,  in  1891,  the  Congress  of  the  German 
Social  Democracy  adopted  a  new  program.  The 
following  year  Karl  Kautsky  published  Das  Er- 
furter  Program.  This  work  turned  out  to  be 
more  than  a  mere  exposition  of  the  new  state- 
ment of  principles.  In  his  preface  the  author  ex- 
plained that  it  was  designed  to  fill  the  gap  be- 
tween propaganda  pamphlets  on  the  one  side 
and  special  monographs  on  the  other.  It  was  at 
once  scientific  and  popular ;  it  contained  a  system- 
atic survey  of  Socialist  thought  and  was,  never- 
theless, of  sufHciently  modest  dimensions  to  be 
available  for  the  average  person's  use. 

In  1904,  in  the  introduction  to  the  fifth  edition, 
the  author  stated  that  the  Erfurt  Program  re- 
mained in  all  essential  particulars  an  accurate 
statement  of  the  principles  of  the  German  Social 
Democracy.  Hence,  his  work  demanded  no  fun- 
damental revision.  It  may  be  added  that  the  pro- 
gram adopted  at  Erfurt  nineteen  years  ago  is  still 
valid,  not  only  for  the  German  Social  Democ- 
racy, but,  with  comparatively  unimportant  modi- 
fications, for  the  international  Socialist  move- 
ment.    Therefore,  this  book  of  Karl  Kautsky's 


4  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

remains  in  a  sense  the  most  authoritative  expo- 
sition of  the  principles  underlying  that  move- 
ment. 

The  following  translation  is  based  on  the 
eighth  German  edition  (1907).  It  is  as  exact  a 
rendering  in  English  as  could  be  compressed  into 
two-thirds  of  the  space  occupied  by  the  original. 
The  passages  omitted  consist  chiefly  of  illustra- 
tive material.  The  author's  argument,  his  state- 
ment of  principles,  has  nowhere  been  tampered 
with. 

W.  E.  B. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  Page 

I.    The  Passing  of  Small  Production 

1.  Small  Production  and  Private  Property.  9 

2.  Commodities    and    Capital 10 

3.  The  Capitalist  Method  of  Production..  13 

4.  The  Death-Struggle  of  Small  Produc- 

tion   16 

II.     The  Proletariat 

1.  From  Apprentice  to  Proletarian 18 

2.  Wages    23 

3.  Dissolution  of  the  Proletarian  Family.  26 

4.  Prostitution   27 

5.  The  Industrial  Reserve  Army 29 

6.  The  Increase  of  the  Proletariat;  Mer- 

cantile and  Educated  Proletariat....  35 

III.  The  Capitalist  Class 

1.  Commerce  and  Credit 43 

2.  Division  of  Labor  and  Competition 48 

3.  Profit 52 

4.  Rent 53 

$.    Taxes 55 

6.  The  Falling  Off  of  the  Rate  of  Profit. .  58 

7.  The  Growth  of  Large  Production ;  Syn- 

dicates and  Trusts 62 

8.  Industrial  Crises   71 

9.  Chronic  Over-Production  81 

IV.  The  Commonwealth  of  the  Future 

L    Social  Reform  and  Social  Revolution..  88 
2.    Private    Property   and   Common   Prop- 
erty   93 


CONTENTS. 

3.  Socialist  Production  95 

4.  The  Economic  Significance  of  the  State.  104 

5.  State  Socialism  and  the  Social  Democ- 

racy    109 

6.  The  Structure  of  the  Future  State 112 

7.  The  "Abolition  of  the  Family" 124 

8.  Confiscation  of  Property 139 

9.  Division    of    Products    in    the    Future 

State  13^5 

10.    Socialism  and  Freedom 148 

V.    The  Class  Struggle 

1,    Socialism    and    the     Property-Holding 

Classes  159 

f  2.     Servants  and  Menials 165 

3.  The  Slums 168 

4.  The  Beginnings  of  the  Wage-Earning 

Proletariat  170 

'  5.    The    Advance    of    the    Wage-Earning 

Proletariat  170 

6.  The  Conflict  Between  the  Elevating  and 

Degrading  Tendencies   which   Affect 
the  Proletariat 172 

7.  Philanthropji  and  Labor  Legislation *  174 

8.  The  Labor  Union  Movement f 179 

9.  The  Political  Struggle 184 

10.  The  Labor  Party 188 

11.  The  Labor  Movement  and  Socialism...   191 

12.  The  Socialist      Party — Union     of     the 

Labor  Movement  and  Socialism.....   199 

13.  The  International  Character  of  the  So- 

cialist Movement 302 

14.  The  Socialist  Party  and  the^  People ... .  2M) 


The     Class  Struggle. 

I.     THE  PASSING  OF  SMALL  PRODUC- 
TION. 

1.    Small  Production  and  Private  Property. 

The  program  adopted  by  the  German  Social- 
Democracy  at  Erfurt  in  1891  divides  itself  into 
two  parts.  In  the  first  place  it  outlines  the  funda- 
mental principles  on  which  Socialism  is  based, 
and  in  the  second  it  enumerates  the  demands 
which  the  Social  Democracy  makes  of  present 
day  society.  The  first  part  tells  what  Socialists 
believe ;  the  second  how  they  propose  to  make 
their  belief  effective. 

We  shall  concern  ourselves  only  with  the  first 
of  these  parts.  This  again  separates  itself  into 
three  divisions:  (1)  an  analysis  of  present  day 
society  and  its  development;  (2)  the  objects  of 
the  Social  Democracy;  (3)  the  means  which  are 
to  lead  to  the  realization  of  these  objects. 

The  first  section  of  the  program  reads  as  fol- 
lows: "Production  on  a  small  scale  is  based  on 
the  ownership  of  the  means  of  production  by 
the  laborer.  The  economic  development  of  bour- 
geois society  leads  necessarily  to  the  overthrow 
of  this  form  of  production.  It  separates  the 
worker  from  his  tools  and  changes  him  into  a 
propertyless  proletarian.  The  means  of  produc- 
tion become  more  and  more  the  monopoly  of  a 
comparatively  ^mall  number  of  capitalists  and 
landhokler^:. 


8  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

"Along  with  this  monopolizing  of  the  means  of 
production  goes  the  crowding  out  and  scattering 
of  small  production,  the  development  of  the  tool 
into  the  machine,  and  a  marvelous  increase  in 
the  productivity  of  labor.  But  all  the  advantages 
of  this  transformation  are  monopolized  by  cap- 
italists and  landholders.  For  the  proletariat  and 
the  disappearing  middle  class — the  small  busi- 
ness men  and  farmers — it  means  increasing  un- 
certainty of  subsistence ;  it  means  misery,  op- 
pression, servitude,  degradation  and  exploitation. 

"Forever  greater  grows  the  number  of  prole- 
tarians, more  gigantic  the  army  of  superfluous 
laborers,  and  sharper  the  opposition  between  ex- 
ploiters and  exploited.  The  class-struggle  be- 
tween the  bourgeoisie  and  proletariat  is  the  com- 
mon mark  of  all  industrial  countries ;  it  divides 
modern  society  into  two  opposing  camps  and  the 
warfare  between  them  constantly  increases  in  bit- 
terness. 

"The  abyss  between  propertied  and  property- 
less  is  further  widened  by  industrial  crises. 
These  have  their  causes  in  the  capitalist  system 
and,  as  the  system  develops,  naturally  occur  on  an 
increasing  sca'e.  They  make  universal  uncer- 
tainty the  normal  condition  of  society  and  so 
prove  that  our  power  of  production  has  got  be- 
yond our  control,  tliat  private  ownership  of  the 
means  of  production  has  become  irreconcilable 
with  their  effective  use  and  complete  develop- 
ment." 

*     *     * 

Many  a  man  thinks  be  has  given  pro'jf  of  wis- 
dom when  he  says.  "There  is  nothing  new  under 


THE   PASSING   OF    SMALL   PRODUCTION  y 

the  sun."  There  is  nothing  more  false.  Modern 
science  shows  that  nothing  is  stationary,  that  in 
society,  just  as  in  external  nature,  a  continuous 
development  is  discoverable. 

On  the  nature  of  this  social  development  is 
based  the  theory  of  Socialism.  No  one  can  un- 
derstand the  one  without  study  of  the  other. 

We  know  that  primitive  man  lived,  like  the 
animals,  on  whatever  nature  happened  to  offer. 
But  in  the  course  of  time  he  began  to  devise 
tools.  He  became  fisher,  hunter,  herdsman, 
finally  farmer  and  craftsman.  This  development 
was  constantly  accelerated,  until  today  we  can 
see  it  going  on  before  our  eyes  and  mark  its 
stages.  And  still  there  are  those  who  solemnly 
proclaim  that  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun. 

A  people's  way  of  getting  a  living  depends  on 
its  means  of  production — on  the  nature  of  its 
tools  and  raw  materials.  But  men  have  never 
carried  on  production  separately ;  always,  on  the 
contrary,  in  larger  or  smaller  societies.  And  the 
varying  forms  of  these  societies  have  depended 
on  the  manner  of  production.  The  development 
of  society,  therefore,  corresponds  to  a  develop- 
ment of  the  manner  of  production. 

The  forms  of  society  and  the  relations  of  its 
members  are  intimately  connected  with  the  forms 
of  property  which  it  maintains.  Hand  in  hand 
with  the  development  of  production  goes  a  de- 
velopment of  property.  So  long  as  labor  was 
performed  with  comparatively  simple  tools  which 
each  laborer  could  possess,  it  went  without  saying 
that  he  owned  the  product  of  his  toil.  But  as  the 
means  of  production  have  changed,  this  notion 
of  property  right  has  passed  away. 


10  THE   CLASS  STRUGGLE 

We  shall  examine  the  course  of  development 
which  has  brought  this  about. 

2.    Commodities  and  CapitaL 

The  beginnings  of  capitalist  society  are  to  be 
found  in  agriculture  and  handicraft. 

Originally  the  agricultural  family  satisfied  all 
of  its  own  needs.  It  produced  all  the  food, 
clothing  and  tools  for  its  own  members  and  built 
its  own  house.  It  produced  as  much  as  it  needed 
and  no  more.  With  the  advance  in  the  methods 
of  farming,  however,  it  came  about  that  more 
was  produced  than  enough  to  satisfy  the  imme- 
diate needs  of  the  family.  This_plat,ed  tlt»JEaQiily 
in    a    position    to   purchase    WSSpoiTs,'~footg~  or 

-articles  of  •  luxury",'  whicTT  it  could  not  produce 
itself.     Through"this  exclian^e  products  became  - 
— eommodities.     ^ 

"~"~^  commodity  is  a  product  designed  for  ex- 
change. The  wheat  the  farmer  produces  for  his 
oWnxonsumption  is  not  a  commodity;  the  wheat 
be  produces  to_selLJs  a  commodity.  Selliiig  Is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  trading  a  commodity 
for  another  which  is.  acceptable  t  oalI^_gold^  for 

--example. 

Now  the  craftsman  working  independently  is 
a  producer  of  commodities  from  the  beginning. 
He  does  not  sell  merely  his  surplus  products ;  pro- 
duction for  sale  is  his  main  purpose. 

Exchange  of  commodities  implies  two_CQiidi- 
tions :  first,  a  division  of  sociaLJabor ;  serond, 
private  ownership  of  the  tjiingslexchanged.  The 
more-tWs  divisiufrdevelops  and  the  more  private 
property  increases  in  extent  and  importance,  the 


THE    PASSING   OF   SMALL    PRODUCTION  11 

more  general  becomes  production  for  exchange. 

This  leads  naturally  to  the  appearance  of  a 
new  trade;  buying  and  selling  becomes  a  busi- 
ness. Those  engaged  in  it  make  their  living  by 
selling  dearer  than  they  buy.  This  does  not  mean 
that  they  control  prices  absolutely.  The  price  of 
a  commodity  depends  finally  on  its  exchange 
value.  The  value  of  a  commodity,  however,  is 
determined  by  the  amount  of  labor  generally  re- 
quired  to  produce  it.  The  price  of  a  commodity,  | 
nevertheless,  seldom  coincides  exactly  with  its 
value ;  it  is  determined  by  the  conditions  of  the 
market  more  than  by  the  conditions  of  produc- 
tion— primarily  by  the  relation  of  supply  and  de- 
mand. 

The  farmer  or  craftsman  buys  for  consump- 
tion^  JJie'-tra:dcsfHan™buy^4o -sell.  Now  money- 
used  for  this  latter  purpose  is  capital.  One  can- 
not say  of  any  commodity  or  sum  of  money 
that  by  its  very  nature  it  is  capital.  That  depends 
on  the  use  to  which  it  is  put.  The  tobacco  Zr 
•merchant  buys  to  sell  is  capital ;  tliafwHichhe 
"^uys  to  smoke  is  not! 

The  original  form  of  capital  is  merchant's  cap- 
ital. Almost  equally  old  is  interest-bearing  cap- 
ital, the  profits  of  which  are  in  the  forrn  of  intep- 
es.t._  As  soon  as  these  forms  of  capital  have  been 
developed,  private  property  becomes  something 
quite  different  from  what  it  was  in  the  beginning. 
Defenders  of  the  present  system  try  to  distract 
attention  from  this  aspect  of  property  by  talking 
constantly  of  the  forms  necessary  to  the  begin- 
nings of  society.  They  attempt  to  prevent  our 
seeing  any  difference  between  the  ownership  of 


12  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

a  home  and  the  ownership  of  a  branch  of  in- 
dustry. 

At  the  stage  of  economic  development  now 
under  discussion  the  income  of  the  craftsman 
or  laborer  depends  somewhat  on  his  industry 
and  skill.  But  it  can  never  go  beyond  a  fixed 
limit.  That  of  the  tradesman,  however,  is  de- 
termined only  hy-llie-amount  of  Jiis  capital.  The 
possibilities  of  labor  are  hmited;  those  of  capi- 
tal are  unlimited. 

So  we  have  here  a  condition  that  would  nat- 
urally lead  to  social  development.  We  started 
with  a  society  in  which  each  owned  certain  means 
of  production ;  in  which,  therefore,  the  indi- 
viduals were  approximately  equal.  The  natural 
limitations  of  the  income  from  labor  and  the  lack 
of  similar  limitations  of  the  income  from  capita) 
would  naturally  tend  to  bring  about  a  condition 
of  inequality.  But  there  is  still  another  element 
of  the  situation  to  be  taken  into  account. 

Private  property  in  the  means  of  production 
implies  for  everyone  the  possibility  of  coming 
into  possession  of  them,  but  it  implies  also  the 
possibility  of  losing  possession.  That  is,  the 
craftsman  may  fall  into  absolute  poverty.  The 
existence  of  interest-bearing  capital  implies  the 
existence  of  want.    One  who  has  what  he  needs 

will   not  borrow. Bv  exnlaiting  want,   capital 

constantly  increases  it. 
—  Here  we  have^hen,  the  beginnings  of  mod- 
ern conditions.  C^pme  "make"  money  without 
producing;  others  produce  and  remain  in  pov- 
ettjj  It  is  true  that  the  evils  of  the  system  are 
iK»t  yet  quite  clear.     The  capitalist  is  dependent 


THE   PASSING   OF    SMALL    PRODUCTION  13 

on  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer  and  craftsman ; 
his  interest  does  not  He  in  dispossessing  them 
entirely.  Whole  classes  are  not  driven  into  pov- 
erty. Therefore  poverty  is  regarded  as  a  visita- 
tion of  Providence,  or  as  the  result  of  shiftless- 
ness  or  carelessness. 

This  way  of  looking  at  things  is  still  common 
among  the  small  capitalist  class,  and  representa- 
tives of  the  present  system,  editors,  lecturers, 
etc.,  strive  to  maintain  popular  faith  in  it.  Pri- 
vate property  in  the  means  of  production  was 
once  necessary  to  the  good  of  society;  there 
was  a  time  when  the  average  man  had  a  chance 
to  own  property.  This  condition  of  affairs,  they 
would  have  us  believe,  still  exists.  But  in  reality 
the  nature  of  private  property  has  changed.  The 
old  conditions  have  passed  away  absolutely. 
How  this  came  about  we  are  now  to  see. 

3.    The  Capitalist  Method  of  Production. 

In  the  course  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  handi- 
crafts developed  steadily.  There  was  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  division  of  labor — e.  g.,  weaving 
divided  into  woolen  weaving,  linen  weaving,  etc. 
There  was  also  increase  in  skill  and  improvement 
in  tools.  Simultaneouly  there  came  about  a  de- 
velopment of  trade,  especially  as  a  result  of  im- 
proved means  of  transportation  by  water. 

Four  hundred  years  ago  the  handicrafts  were 
at  their  height.  This  was  an  eventful  time  in 
the  history  of  commerce.  The  waterway  to 
India  came  into  use  and  America  was  discov- 
ered, with  its  endless  supplies  of  gold  and  silver. 
A   flood   of    wealth    inundated   Europe,   wealth 

mi 


14  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

which  the  European  adventurers  had  scooped  up 
l»y  means  of  barter,  deceit  and  robbery.  The 
lion's  share  of  this  wealth  fell  to  the  tradesmen 
aWe  to  fit  out  ships  with  bold,  unscrupulous 
crews. 

At  the  same  time  there  came  into  being  the 
modern  state,  the  centralized  official  and  mili- 
tary state,  at  first  an  absolute  monarchy.  This 
state  met  the  demands  of  the  rising  capitalist 
dass  and  depended  on  it  for  support.  The  mod- 
ern state,  the  state  of  developed  commodity- 
production,  draws  its  power,  not_from  personal 
S£CYicej__but  from  its  financial  incomt^  THe 
monarchsJia<3^-thefef ui e," "every  reason  to  pro- 
tect and  favor  the  capitalists  who  brought  money 
into  the  country.  In  return  the  capitalists  lent 
money  to  the  monarchs,  made  debtors  of  them 
and  put  them  in  the  position  of  dependents.  This 
enabled  them  more  and  more  to  force  the  political 
and  military  power  into  their  service.  The  state 
was  obliged  to  improve  means  of  communica- 
tion, take  over  colonies  and  carry  on  wars  in 
the  interest  of  capital. 

Our  text-books  on  economics  tell  us  that  the 
beginning  of  capital  is  to  be  found  in  thrift.  But 
we  have  learned  that  its  origin  was  an  altogether 
different  one.  Colonial  policies  were  the  chief 
sources  of  wealth  open  to  capitalist  nations ;  i.  e., 
capital  was  drawn  from  plurid£j:iag_£if_-foreign 
lands,  from  pixacy.  smuggling,  slavp-tradittg  gnrl 
war.  Even  down  into  the  nineteenth  century 
liistory  shows  us  plenty  of  examples  of  this 
''thrift."  And  "thrifty"  trades-people  found  in 
the  state  itself  a  powerful  ally  in  this  sort  of 
"saving." 


THE   PA.'iyiNO   VI'    SMALL    PRODUCTION  15 

But  newly  discovered  lands  and  commercial 
routes  did  more  *h^n  bring  wealth  to  the  mer- 
chants ;  they  opened  up  a  new  market  for  the  sea- 
going   nations    of    Europe,    especially   England. 
Handicraft  was  tinable  to  satisfy  the  rapidly  in- 
creasing demands  of  this  market.  These  demands 
were  on  a  large  .scale ;  production  had  to  proceed 
on  a  large  scale.    That  is,  the  market  demanded   j 
a   form  of  production  which  could  and  would  I 
adapt  itself  to  the  demand;  in  other  words,    jH 
form  absolutely  in  command  of  the  merchants. 

The  merchants  naturally  found  it  to  their  in- 
terest to  satisfy  the  demand  of  this  new  market; 
and  they  had  the  money  to  purchase  the  neces- 
sary means,  raw  materials,  tools,  factories  and 
labor.  But  where  was  this  last  to  come  from? 
So  long  as  a  man  owns  tools  of  his  own  and  can 
produce  with  them,  he  will  not  sell  himself  to 
another.     Fortunately   for   the   nwrchantr-puizal 

■vJaiar^rnn    Mrni'n    hning    rln\:pn     fmm    the    '^oil         The 

landlords  wanted  their  share  of  the  new  pros- 
perity, therefore  they  enlarged  their  scale  of  pro- 
duction and  demanded  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
product.  So  agricultural  laborers  were  forced  to 
the  doors  of  the  new-built  factories. 

V Thus   the    foundations   of   capitalist   industry 

I  were  laid  by  means  of  expropriation,  by  means  of 
I  a  revolution  as  bloody  as  any  in  history. 
^  Tl'j  separation  of  great  masses  of  workers 
fron<  the  means  of  production,  their  transforma- 
tion into  propertyless  proletarians,  was  a  condi- 
tion necessary  to  capitalist  production.  Economic 
development  made  the  change  inevitable.  But 
the  vising  classes  were  not  content  to  sit  by  and 


:ry  ") 


16  THE   CLASS  STRUGGLE 

watch  the  course  of  events ;  they  resorted  to  vio- 
lence to  accelerate  the  change.  Itwasthroiigh 
violence  of  the  most  brutal^  repulsive  kind  that 
capitalist  society  wasusKered.in. 

4.    The  Death-Struggle  of  Small  Production. 

At  first  the  new  system  differed  but  little  from 
the  old  so  far  as  external  appearance  was  con- 
cerned. The  capitalist  delivered  raw  material  to 
his  hired  workers  and  collected  from  them  the 
finished  product.  Later  he  found  it  advan- 
tageous to  gather  them  in  a  large  building  called 
a  factory. 

As  soon  as  workers  produced  together  in  a 
factory,  it  was  discovered  that  a  division  of  labor 
increased  the  profits.  Gradually  systems  of  pro- 
duction  became  so  developed  that  each  operative 
had  to  make  but  a  single  motion  or  perform  a 
single  operation.  That  is,  the  laborer  had  been 
reduced  to  the  level  of  a  machine.  Only  one  step 
remained — to  replace  him  with  a  machine,  and 
that  step  was  soon  taken.  It  was  made  possible 
by  the  development  of  science — and  especially  by 
the  application  of  steam-power  to  industrial  proc- 
esses. The  introduction  of  machinery  meant^an 
industrial  revolution.  With  this  change  economic 
development,  became  the  triumphant  march  of 
capitalism.  - 

Between. 127-CLand,1789jhe  first  practical  ma- 
chines were  introduced  into  the  English  textile 
industry.  ~The  steam  engine  was  invented  at  the 
same  time.  From  that  period  on  the  machine 
conquered  one  branch  of  industry  after  another 
and  one  country  after  another.    It  has  placed  it 


THE   PASSING   OF   SMALL    PRODUCTION  17 

m  the  power  of  a  factory  operative  to  do  the 
work  of  several  hundred  handicraftsmen. 

Under  these  conditions  the  factory  rules,  and 
the  days  of  handicraft,  of  independent  produc- 
tion, are  numbered.  What  remains  is  carried  on 
chiefly  by  unfortunates  who  cannot  find  places 
in  the  factory  system. 


11.     THE  PROLETARIAT. 
1.     From  Apprentice  to  Proletarian. 

We  have  seen  that  the  capitalist  system  of  pro- 
duction implies  the  separation  of  the  laborer  from 
the  means  of  production.  'On  the  one  side  there 
is  the  capitalist,  who  owns'  the  machine,  and  on 
the  other  the  proletarian,  who  does  the  worky" 

Originally  it  took  forcible  methods  to  sectire 
the  supply  of  proletarians  necessary  to  this  sys- 
tem. Today,  however,  such  methods  are  no 
longer  necessary.  The  economic  power  of  the 
system  has  become  sufficient  to  accomplish  the 
desired  result  without  breaking  the  law  of  pri- 
vate property.  In  fact,  it  is  by  the  operation  of 
this  law  that  every  year  a  sufficient  number  of 
farmers  and  independ-errt  ciaf tsinen  are  given>jthe 
choice  between  starvation  and  work  in  the  fac- 
tories-  

That  the  number  of  the  proletariat  is  steadily 
on  the  increase  is  such  a  palpable  fact  that  no 
one  attempts  to  deny  it,  not  even  those  who  would 
make  us  believe  that  society  today  rests  on  the 
same  basis  as  it  did  a  hundred  years  ago,  and 
who  try  to  paint  the  picture  of  the  small  pro- 
ducer in  rosy  colors.  Indeed  a  change  has  taken 
place  in  the  make-up  of  society,  just  as  it  has  m 
the  system  of  production.  The  capitalist  form 
of  production  has  overthrown  all  others,  and  be- 
come the  dominant  one  in  the  field  of  industry; 
similarly  wage-labor  is  today  the  dominant  form 

.  18 


THE    PROLETARIAT  19 

of  labor.  A  hundred  years  ago  the  farming 
peasantry  took  the  first  place ;  later,  the  small  city 
industrialists ;  today  it  is  the  wage-earner. 

In  all  civilized  countries  the  proletarians  are 
today  the  largest  class;  it  is  their  condition  and 
modes  of  thought  that  tend  to  control  those  of 
all  the  other  divisions  of  labor.  This  implies  a 
complete  revolution  in  the  condition  ajid  tlinngrVif 
of  th£J3«4k- ofjdip  pnpTThrTtop'  THeconditions 
of  tfie^proletanat  differ  radically  from  those  of  all 
former  categories  of  labor.  The  small  farmer, 
the  artisan,  the  small  producers  generally,  were 
the  owners  of  the  product  of  their  labor  by  rea- 
son of  their  ownership  of  the  means  of  produc- 
tion. The  product  of  the  labor  of  the  proletarian 
does  not  belong  to  him,  it  belongs  to  the  capitalist, 
to  the  owner  of  the  requisite  instruments  of  pro- 
duction.   True  enough,  the  proletarian  is  paid  by 

the   rapi<-a1i<;«---h444:-44TTr-Ara1np   nf-hi.    um^t^   ic    fgy 

below  thsrtTrHiis  produetr 

When  the  capitalist  in  industry  purchases  the 
only  commodity  which  the  proletarian  can  offer 
for  sale,  that  is,  his  labor-power,  he  does  so  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  utilizing  it  in  a  profitable 
way.  The  more  the  working-man  produces,  the 
larger  the  value  of  his  product.  If  the  capitalist 
were  to  work  his  employes  only  long  enough  to 
produce  the  worth  of  the  wages  he  pays  them, 
he  would  clear  no  profits.  But  his  capital  cries 
for  profits  and  finds  in  him  a  willing  listener. 
The  longer  the  time  is  extended  during  which  the 
workmen  labor  in  the  service  of  the  capitalists, 
over  and  above  the  time  needed  to  cover  their 
wages,  the  larger  is  the  value  of  their  product,  the 


20  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

larger  is  the  surplus  over  and  above  the  capitalist 
outlay  in  wages,  and  the  larger  is  the  per  cent  of 
exploitation  to  which  these  workmen  are  subject- 
ed. This  exploitation  of  labor  finds  a  limit  only 
in  the  powers  of  endurance  of  the  working  people 
and  in  the  resistance  they  may  be  able  to  offer  to 
their  exploiters. 

In  capitalist  production,  the  capitalist  and  the 
wage-earner  are  not  fellow -workers,  as  were  the 
employer  and  employed  in  previous  industrial 
epochs.  The  capitalist  soon  develops  into,  and  re- 
mains, essentially  a  merchant.  His  activity,  in  so 
far  as  he  is  at  all  active,  limits  itself,  like  that  of 
the  merchant,  to  the  operations  of  the  market. 
His  labors  consist  in  purchasing  as  cheaply  as 
possible  the  raw  material,  labor  power  and  other 
essentials,  and  selling  the  finished  products  as 
dearly  as  possible.  Upon  the  field  of  produc- 
tion itself  he  does  nothing  except  to  secure  the 
largest  quantity  of  labor  from  the  workmen  for 
the  least  possible  amount  of  wages,  and  thereby  to 
squeeze  out  of  them  the  largest  possible  quantity 
of  surplus  values.  In  his  relation  to  his  employes 
he  is  not  a  fellow-worker,  he  is  only  a  driver  and 
exploiter.  The  longer  they  work,  the  better  off 
he  is ;  he  is  not  tired  out  if  the  hours  of  labor  are 
unduly  extended;  he  does  not  perish  if  the  meth- 
od of  production  becomes  a  murderous  one.  The 
capitalist  is  vastly  more  reckless  of  the  life  and 
safety  of  his  operatives  than  the  master-workman 
of  former  times.  Extension  of  the  hours  of  la- 
bor, abolition  of  holidays,  introduction  of  night 
labor,  damp  and  overheated  factories  filled  with 
poisonous  gases,   such  are  the  "improvements" 


\ 

THE    PROLETARIAT  21 

which  the  capitalist  mode  of  production  has  in- 
troduced for  the  benefit  of  the  working-class. 

The  introduction  of  machinery  increases  still 
further  the  danger  to  life  and  limb  for  the  work- 
ing-man. The  machine  system  fetters  him  to  a 
monster  that  moves  perpetually  with  a  gigantic 
power  and  with  insane  speed.  Only  the  closest, 
never-flagging  attention  can  protect  the  working- 
man  attached  to  such  a  machine  from  being  seized 
and  broken  by  it.  Protective  devices  cost  money ; 
the  capitalist  does  not  introduce  them  unless  he  is 
forced  to  do  it.  Economy  being  the  much  vaunt- 
ed virtue  of  the  capitalist,  he  is  constrained  by  it 
to  save  room  and  to  squeeze  as  much  machinery 
as  possible  into  the  workshop.  What  cares  he 
that  the  limbs  of  his  working-men  are  thereby 
endangered  ?  Working-men  are  cheap,  but  large, 
airy  workshops  are  dear. 

There  is  still  another  respect  in  which  the  capi- 
talist employment  of  machinery  lowers  the  condi- 
tion of  the  working-class.  It  is  this :  the  tool  of 
the  mechanic  of  former  times  was  cheap  and  it 
was  subject  to  few  changes  that  would  render  it 
useless.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  machine ;  in  the 
first  place,  it  costs  money,  much  money;  in  the 
second  place,  if  through  improvements  in  the  sys- 
tem it  becomes  useless,  or  if  it  is  not  used  to  its 
full  capacity,  it  will  bring  loss  instead  of  profit  to 
the  capitalist.  Again,  the  machine  is  worn  out. 
not  only  through  use,  but  through  idleness.  Fur- 
thermore, the  introduction  of  science  into  produc- 
tion constantly  causes  new  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions to  take  the  place  of  the  old  ones.  So,  be- 
cause they  cannot  compete   with   the  improved 


22  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

machinery,  now  this  machine,  now  that,  and  o)^  n 
whole  factories  at  once,  are  rendered  useless  he- 
fore  they  have  been  used  to  their  full  extent. 
Therefore,  every  machine  is  in  danger  of  being 
made  useless  before  it  is  used  up ;  this  is  suffi- 
cient ground  for  the  capitalist  to  utliize  his  ma- 
chine as  quickly  as  possible  from  the  moment  he 
puts  it  in  operation.  In  other  worvis,  the  capital- 
ist application  of  the  system  of  machinery  is  a 
spur  that  drives  the  capitalist  to  extend  the  hours 
of  labor  as  much  as  possible,  to  carry  on  produc- 
tion without  interruption,  to  introduce  the  system 
of  night  and  day  shifts,  and,  accordingly,  to  make 
of  the  unwholesome  night  work  a  permanent  sys- 
tem. 

At  the  time  the  system  of  machinery  began  to 
develop,  some  idealists  declared  the  golden  age 
was  at  hand ;  the  machine  was  to  release  the 
working-man  and  render  ^lim  free.  In  the  hands 
of  the  capitalist,  however,  the  machine  has  made 
the  burden  of  labor  unbearable. 

But  in  the  matter  of  wages,  also,  the  condition 
of  the  wage-earner  is  worse  than  that  of  the  me- 
dieval apprentice.  The  proletarian,  the  workman 
of  today,  does  not  eat  at  the  table  of  the  capital- 
ist ;  he  does  riot  live  in  the  same  house.  Howevef 
wretched  his  home  may  be,  however  miserable 
his  food,  nay,  even  though  he  famish,  the  well- 
being  of  the  capitalist  is  not  disturbed  by  the 
sickening  sight.  •  The  words  wages  and  starva- 
tion used  to  be  mutually  exclusive ;  the  free 
working-man  formerly  could  starve  only  when 
he  had  no  work.  Whoever  worked  earned  wages, 
he  had  enough  to  eat,  starvation  was  not  his  lot. 


THE    PROLETARIAT  23 

For  the  capitalist  system  was  reserved  the  un- 
enviable distinction  of  reconciling  these  two  op- 
posites — wages  and  starvation — raising  starva- 
tion-wages into  a  permanent  institution,  even  into 
a  prop  of  the  present  social  system, 

2.    Wages.  ' 

Wages  can  never  rise  so  high  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible for  the  capitalist  to  carry  on  his  business 
and  to  live  from  the  profits  of  it ;  under  such 
circumstances  it  would  be  more  profitable  for  the 
capitalist  to  give  up  his  business.  Consequently, 
the  wages  of  the  working-man  can  never  rise 
high  enough  to  equal  the  value  of  his  product. 
They  must  always  be  below  that,  so  as  to  leave  a 
surplus ;  it  is  only  the  prospect  of  a  surplus  that 
moves  the  capitalist  to  purchase  labor  power.  It 
is  therefore  evident  that  under  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem the  wages  of  the  workmen  can  never  rise 
high  enough  to  put  an  end  to  the  exploitation  of 
labor. 

The  surplus  which  the  capitalist  class  appro- 
priates is  larger  than  is  usually  imagined.  It  cov- 
ers not  only  the  profits  of  the  manufacturer,  but 
many  other  items  that  are  usually  credited  to  the 
cost  of  production  and  exchange.  It  covers,  for 
instance,  rent,  interest  on  loans,  salaries,  mer- 
chant's profits,  taxes,  etc.  All  these  have  to  be 
subtracted  from  the  surplus,  that  is,  the  excess 
of  the  value  of  the  product  over  the  wages  of  the 
working-man.  It  is  evident  that  this  surplus  must 
be  a  considerable  one  if  a  concern  is  to  "pay." 
It  is  clear  that  the  wages  of  the  working-man 
cannot  rise  high  enough  to  be  even  approximately 


24  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

equal  to  the  value  of  his  profit.  The  capitalist 
system  means  under  all  circumstances  the  ex- 
ploitation of  the  wage-workers.  It  is  impossible 
to  abolish  this  exploitation  without  abolishing  the 
system  itself.  And  the  exploitation  must  be  great 
even  where  wages  are  high. 

But  wages  rarely  reach  the  highest  point  which 
even  these  circumstances  would  permit ;  more  of- 
ten they  are  found  to  be  nearer  to  the  lowest  pos- 
sible point.  This  point  is  reached  when  the 
wages  do  not  supply  the  workman  with  even  the 
barest  necessities.  When  the  workman  not  only 
starves,  but  starves  rapidly,  all  work  is  at  an 
end. 

The  wages  swing  between  these  two  extremes. 
The  less  the  necessities  of  the  workman,  the 
larger  the  supply  of  labor  on  the  market,  and 
the  slighter  the  capacity  of  the  working-man  for 
resistance,  the  lower  wages  sink. 

In  general,  wages  must  be  high  enough  to 
keep  the  working-man  in  a  condition  to  work,  or, 
to  speak  more  accurately,  they  must  be  high 
enough  to  secure  to  the  capitalist  the  measure  of 
labor-power  which  he  needs.  In  other  words, 
wages  must  be  high  enough,  not  only  to  keep  the 
working-men  in  a  condition  to  work,  but  also  in 
a  condition  to  produce  children  to  replace  them. 

Now  industrial  development  exhibits  a  ten- 
dency, most  pleasing  to  the  capitalist,  to  lower 
the  necessities  of  the  working-man  and  to  de- 
crease his  wages  in  proportion. 

There  was  a  time  when  skill  and  strength  were 
requisites  for  a  working-man.  The  period  of  ap- 
prenticeship was  long,  the  cost  of  training  con- 


THE    PROLETARIAT  25 

sMerable.  Now,  however,  the  progress  made  in 
the  division  of  labor  and  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery render  skill  and  strength  in  production 
more  and  more  superfluous;  they  make  it  possi- 
ble to  substitute  unskilled  and  cheap  workmen 
for  skilled  ones;  and,  consequently,  to  put  weak 
women  and  even  children  in  the  place  of  men. 
In  the  early  stages  of  manufacturing  this  ten- 
dency is  already  perceptible;  but  not  until  ma- 
chinery is  introduced  into  production  do  we  find 
the  wholesale  exploitation  of  women  and  chil- 
dren— the  most  helpless  among  the  helpless. 

Originally,  the  wage-earner  had  to  earn  wages 
high  enough  to  defray,  not  only  his  own  ex- 
penses, but  also  those  of  his  family,  in  order  to 
enable  him  to  propagate  himself  and  to  bequeath 
his  labor  power  to  others.  Without  this  process 
the  heirs  of  the  capitalists  would  find  no  pro- 
letarians ready  made  for  exploitation. 

When,  however,  the  wife  and  young  children 
of  the  working-man  are  able  to  take  care  of 
themselves,  the  wages  of  the  male  worker  can 
safely  be  reduced  to  the  level  of  his  own  personal 
needs  without  the  risk  of  stopping  the  fresh  sup- 
ply of  labor  power. 

The  labor  of  women  and  children,  moreover, 
affords  the  additional  advantage  that  these  are 
less  capable  of  resistance  than  men ;  and  their  in- 
troduction into  the  ranks  of  the  workers  increases 
tremendously  the  quantity  of  labor  that  is  offered 
for  sale  in  the  market. 

Accordingly,  the  labor  of  women  and  children 
not  only  lowers  the  necessities  of  the  working- 
man,  it  also  diminishes  his  capacity  for  resist- 


26  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

ance  in  that  it  overstocks  the  market;  owing  to 
both  these  circumstances  it  lowers  the  wages  of 
the  working-man. 

3.    Dissolution  of  the  Proletarizin  Family. 

The  participation  of  women  in  industrial  pur- 
suits means  the  total  destruction  of  the  family 
life  of  the  working-man  without  substituting  for 
it  a  higher  form  of  the  family  relation.  The 
capitalist  system  of  production  does  not  in  most 
cases  destroy  the  single  household  of  the  work- 
ing-man, but  robs  it  of  all  but  its  unpleasant  fea- 
tures. The  activity  of  wcfman  today  in  industrial 
pursuits  does  not  mean  to  her  freedom  from 
household  duties;  it  means  an  increase  of  her 
former  burdens  by  s.  new  one.  But  one  cannot 
serve  two  masters.  The  household  of  the  work- 
ing-man suffers  whenever  his  wife  must  help  to 
earn  the  daily  bread.  Present  society  offers,  in 
the  place  of  the  individual  household  which  it 
destroys,  only  miserable  substitutes ;  soup-houses 
and  day-nurseries,  where  crumbs  of  the  physical 
and  mental  sustenance  of  the  rich  are  cast  to  the 
lower  classes. 

Socialists  are  charged  with  an  intent  to  abolish 
the  family.  We  do  know  that  every  system  of 
production  has  had  a  special  form  of  household 
to  which  corresponds  a  special  system  of  family 
relationship.  We  do  not  consider  the  existing 
form  of  the  family  the  highest  possible,  and  we 
do  expect  that  a  new  and  improved  social  system 
will  develop  a  new  and  higher  form  of  family  re- 
lationship. But  to  hold  this  view  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing  from_trying  to  dissolve  all  family 


THE    PROLETARIAT  27 

bonds.  Those  who  do  destroy  the  family  bonds 
— who  not  only  mean  to,  but  actually  do  destroy 
them  right  under  our  eyes — are  not  the  Social- 
ists, but  the  capitalists.  Many  a  slave-holder  has 
in  former  times  torn  husband  from  wife  and 
parents  from  children,  but  the  capitalists  have 
improved  upon  the  abominations  of  slavery ;  they 
tear  the  infant  from  the  breast  of  its  mother  and 
compel  her  to  entrust  it  to  strangers'  hands.  And 
yet  a  society  in  which  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
such  instances  are  a  daily  occurrence,  a  society 
whose  upper  classes  promote  "benevolent"  insti- 
tutions for  the  purpose  of  making  easy  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  mothers  from  their  babies,  such  a 
society  has  the  effrontery  to  accuse  the  Socialists 
of  trying  to  abolish  the  family,  because  they, 
basing  their  opinion  on  the  fact  that  the  family 
has  ever  been  one  of  the  reflexes  of  the  system 
of  production,  foresee  that  further  changes  in 
that  system  must  also  result  in  a  more  perfect 
family  relationship. 

4.     Prostitution. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  accusation  on  the  sub- 
ject of  family  bonds  goes  the  charge  that  Social- 
ists aim  at  a  community  of  wives.  This  charge 
is  as  false  as  the  other.  Socialists,  on  the  con- 
trary, maintain  that  ideal  love,  just  the  reverse 
of  a  community  of  wives  and  of  all  sexual  op- 
pression and  license,  will  be  the  foundation  of 
matrimonial  connections  in  a  Socialist  Common- 
wealth, and  that  pure  love  can  prevail  only  in 
such  a  social  system.  What,  on  the  other  hand, 
do  we  see  today  ? 


28  THE    CLASS  STRUGGLE 

Helpless  women,  forced  to  earn  their  living  in 
factories,  shops  and  mines,  fall  a  prey  to  capital- 
ist cupidity.  The  capitalist  takes  advantage  of 
their  inexperience,  offers  them  wages  too  slight 
for  their  support,  and  hints  at,  or  even  brazenly 
suggests,  prostitution  as  a  means  of  supplement- 
ing their  income.  Everywhere  the  increase  of  fe- 
male labor  in  industry  is  accompanied  by  an  in- 
crease in  prostitution.  In  the  modern  state  where 
Christianity  is  so  devoutedly  preached,  many  a 
thriving  branch  of  industry  is  found  where  work- 
ing-women are  paid  so  poorly  that  they  would  be 
compelled  to  starve  did  they  not  prostitute  them- 
selves. And  the  capitalists  declare  that  the  abil- 
ity to  compete,  the  prosperity  of  their  industry, 
depend  upon  these  low  wages.  Higher  wages 
would  ruin  them. 

Prostitution  is  as  old  as  the  contrast  between 
rich  and  poor.  At  one  time,  however,  prostitutes 
were  a  middle  class  between  beggars  and  thieves ; 
they  were  then  an  article  of  luxury  in  which  so- 
ciety indulged  but  the  loss  of  which  would  in  no 
way  have  endangered  its  existence.  To-day, 
however,  it  is  no  longer  the  females  of  the  slums, 
alone,  but  working- women,  who  are  compelled  to 
sell  their  bodies  for  money.  This  latter  sale  is 
no  longer  simply  a  matter  of  luxury;  it  has  be- 
come one  of  the  foundations  upon  which  pro- 
duction is  carried  on.  Under  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem prostitution  becomes  a  pillar  of  society. 
What  the  defenders  of  this  social  system  falsely 
charge  Socialists  with  is  the  very  thing  they  are 
guilty  of  themselves.  Community  of  wives  is 
a  feature  of  capitalism.     Indeed,   such  a  deep 


THE   PROLETARIAT  29 

root  has  this  system  of  communit}''  of  wives 
taken  in  modern  society  that  its  representatives 
agree  in  declaring  prostitution  to  be  a  necessary 
thing.  They  cannot  understand  that  the  aboH- 
tion  of  the  proletariat  implies  the  abolition  of 
prostitution.  So  deep  are  they  sunk  in  intellec- 
tual stagnation  that  they  cannot  conceive  a  social 
system  without  community  of  wives. 

Community  of  wives  is  an  invention  of  the  | 
upper  classes  of  society,  never  of  the  proletariat. 
The  community  of  wives  is  one  of  the  modes  of 
exploiting  the  proletariat ;  it  is  not  SociaHsm,  it 
is  the  exact  opposite  of  Socialism. 

5.    The  Industrial  Reserve  Army. 

We  have  seen  that  the  introduction  of  female 
and  child-labor  in  industry  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  means  whereby  the  capitalists  reduce 
the  wages  of  working-men.  There  is,  however, 
another  means  which,  periodically,  is  just  as 
powerful.  This  is  the  introduction  of  working- 
men  from  regions  that  are  backward  and  whose 
population  has  slight  wants,  but  whose  labor- 
power  has  not  yet  been  sapped  by  the  factory 
system.  The  development  of  machinery  makes 
possible,  not  only  the  employment  of  such  un- 
trained working-men  in  the  place  of  trained  ones, 
but  also  their  cheap  and  prompt  transportation  to 
the  place  where  they  are  wanted.  Hand  in  hand 
with  the  development  of  production  goes  the  sys- 
tem of  transportation ;  colossal  production  cor- 
responds to  colossal  transportation,  not  only  of 
merchandise,  but  also  of  persons.  Steamships  and 
railroads,  these  much-vaunted  pillars  of  civiliza- 


30  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

tion,  not  only  carry  guns,  liquor  and  syphilis  ee 
barbarians,  they  also  bring  the  barbarians  and 
their  barbarism  to  us.  The  flow  of  agricultural 
laborers  into  the  cities  is  becoming  constantly 
stronger;  and  from  ever  farther  regions  are  the 
swarms  of  those  drawing  near  who  have  fewer 
wants,  are  more  patient  and  offer  less  resistance. 
There  is  a  constant  stream  of  emigration  from 
one  country  of  Europe  to  another,  from  Europe 
to  America  and  even  from  the  Orient  to  western 
lands.  These  foreign  workers  are  partly  expro- 
priated people,  small  farmers  and  producers, 
whom  the  capitalist  system  of  production  has 
ruined,  driven  on  the  street  and  deprived  not 
only  of  a  home,  but  also  of  a  country.  Look 
at  these  numberless  emigrants  and  ask  whether 
it  is  Socialism  which  robs  them  of  their  country. 

Through  the  expropriation  of  the  small  produc- 
ers, through  the  importation  from  distant  lands 
of  large  masses  of  labor,  through  the  use  of  the 
labor  of  women  and  children;  through  the  short- 
ening of  the  time  necessary  to  acquire  a  trade, — 
through  all  these  means  the  capitalist  system  of 
production  is  able  to  increase  stupendously  the 
quantity  of  labor  forces  at  its  disposal.  And  side 
by  side  with  this  goes  a  steady  increase  in  the 
productivity  of  human  labor  as  a  result  of  the 
uninterrupted  progress  in  the  technical  arts. 

Simultaneously  with  these  tendencies  the  ma- 
chine tends  steadily  to  displace  workmen  and 
render  them  superfluous.  Every  machine  saves 
labor-power ;  unless  it  did  that,  it  would  be  use- 
less. In  every  branch  of  industry  the  transition 
from  hand  to  machine  labor  is  accompanied  by 


0 


THE    PROLETARIAT  31 

the  greatest  suffering  to  the  working-men  who  are 
affected  by  it.  Whether  they  are  factory  workers 
or  independent  craftsmen,  they  are  made  super- 
fluous by  the  machine  and  thrown  out  upon  the 
streets.  It  was  this  effect  of  machinery  that  the 
workingmen  felt  first.  Many  riots  during  the 
first  year  of  the  nineteenth  century  attest  the  suf- 
fering which  the  transition  from  hand  to  machine 
labor,  or  the  introduction  of  new  machinery,  in- 
flicts upon  the  working-class  and  the  despair  to 
which  they  are  driven  thereby.  The  introduction 
of  machinery,  as  well  as  its  subsequent  improve- 
ment, is  always  harmful  to  certain  divisions  of 
labor.  True  enough,  under  some  conditions  other 
working-men,  for  instance,  those  who  make  the 
machiiies,  may  profit  by  it.  But  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  a  consciousness  of  this  fact  af- 
fords much  comfort  to  those  who  are  starving. 

Every  new  machine  causes  as  much  to  be  pro- 
duced as  before  by  fewer  workmen,  or  larger 
production  with  no  increase  in  the  number  of 
workmen.  From  this  it  follows  that,  if  the  num- 
ber of  workmen  employed  in  a  country  does  not 
decrease  with  the  development  of  the  system  of 
machinery,  the  market  must  be  extended  in  pro- 
portion to  the  increased  productivity  of  these 
workers.  But  since  the  economic  development  in- 
creases the  productivity  of  labor  at  the  same  time 
that  it  increases  the  quantity  of  disposable  labor, 
it  follows  that,  in  order  to  prevent  enforced  idle- 
ness among  workmen,  the  market  must  be  ex- 
tended at  a  much  more  rapid  pace  than  that  at 
which  the  productivity  of  labor  is  increased  by 
the  machine.    Such  a  rapid  extension  of  the  mar- 


32  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

ket  has,  however,  rarely  occurred  under  the  rule 
of  capitalist  production.  Therefore,  enforced 
idleness  is  a  permanent  phenomenon  under  the 
capitalist  system  of  production,  and  is  insepara- 
ble from  it.  Even  in  the  best  times  when  the 
market  suddenly  undergoes  a  considerable  exten- 
sion and  business  is  brisk,  production  is  not  able 
to  furnish  work  for  all  the  unemployed.  During 
bad  times,  however,  when  business  is  at  a  stand- 
still, their  number  reaches  enormous  proportions. 
They  constitute,  with  the  workers  of  superfluous 
small  concerns,  a  great  army,  "the  industrial  re- 
serve army,"  as  Marx  called  it,  an  army  of  labor 
forces  that  stands  ever  ready  at  the  disposal  of 
the  capitalist,  an  army  out  of  which  he  can  draw 
his  reserves  whenever  the  industrial  campaign 
grows  hot. 

To  the  capitalist  this  reserve  army  is  invalua- 
ble. It  places  in  his  hands  a  powerful  weapon 
with  which  to  curb  the  army  of  the  employed. 
After  excessive  work  on  the  part  of  some  has 
produced  lack  of  work  for  others,  then  the  idle- 
ness of  these  is  used  as  a  means  to  keep  up,  and 
even  increase,  the  excessive  work  of  the  former. 
And  yet  there  are  people  who  will  contend  that 
matters  are  today  arranged  in  the  best  possible 


way 


Although  the  size  of  the  industrial  reserve 
army  rises  and  falls  with  the  ups  and  downs  of 
business,  nevertheless,  on  the  whole  it  shows  a 
steady  tendency  to  increase.  This  is  inevitable. 
The  technical  development  moves  on  at  a  con- 
stantly increasing  pace  and  steadily  extends  its^ 
field  of  operations,  while,  oii  the  other  hand,  the 


THE    PROLETARIAT  33 

extension  of  the  markets  is  hemmed  in  by  natural 
Hmits. 

What,  then,  is  the  full  significance  of  lack  of 
work?  It  signifies  not  only  want  and  misery  to 
the  unemployed,  not  only  intensified  servitude 
and  exploitation  to  the  employed;  it  signifies  also 
uncertainty  of  livelihood  for  the  whole  working 
class.  Whatever  hardships  former  modes  of  ex- 
ploitation inflicted  upon  the  exploited,  one  boon 
was  left  them:  the  certainty  of  a  livelihood.  The 
sustenance  of  the  serf  and  the  slave  was  assured 
at  least  during  the  life  of  the  master  himself. 
Only  when  the  master  perished  was  the  life  of  his 
dependents  in  peril.  Whatever  amount  of  misery 
and  want  afflicted  the  people  under  former  sys- 
tems of  production,  it  never  resulted  from  pro- 
duction itself ;  it  was  the  result  of  a  disturbance 
of  production,  brought  on  by  failure  of  crops, 
drouths,  floods,  invasions  of  hostile  armies,  etc. 

Today  the  existence  of  the  exploiter  is  not 
bound  up  in  that  of  the  exploited.  At  any  mo- 
ment the  workman,  with  his  wife  and  children, 
can  be  thrown  upon  the  street  and  given  over  to 
starvation  without  the  exploiter,  whom  he  has 
made  rich,  being  the  worse  for  it. 

The  misery  of  enforced  idleness  is  today  rarely 
the  result  of  a  disturbance  in  production  caused 
by  outside  influences;  it  is  the  necessary  result 
of  the  development  of  the  present  system  of  pro- 
duction. Just  the  reverse  happen^  of  what  oc- 
curred under  the  former  systems  of  production ; 
disturbances  of  production  often  improve  the  op- 
portunities for  work  rather  than  lessening  them; 
remember  the  results  of  the  war  of  1870  upon 


34  THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE 

the  industrial  life  of  Germany  and  France  in  the 
years  immediately  following. 

Under  our  former  system  of  production  on  a 
small  scale  the  income  of  the  worker  was  in  pro- 
portion to  his  industry.  Laziness  ruined  him  and 
finally  threw  him  out  of  work.  Today,  on  the 
contrary,  unemployment  becomes  greater  the 
harder  and  the  longer  the  workman  toils;  he 
brings  enforced  idleness  upon  himself  through  his 
own  labor.  Among  the  many  maxims  from  the 
world  of  small  production  which  capitalist  large 
production  has  reversed  is :  "A  man's  industry  is 
his  fortune." 

Labor-power  is  no  more  a  shield  against  want 
and  misery  than  is  property.  As  the  specter  of 
bankruptcy  hovers  always  over  the  small  farmer 
and  the  craftsman,  so  the  specter  of  unemploy- 
ment hovers  always  over  the  wage-earner.  Of  all 
the  ills  which  attend  the  present  system  of  pro- 
duction the  most  trying,  that  which  harrows 
men's  souls  deepest  and  pulls  up  by  the  roots 
every  instinct  of  conservatism,  is  the  permanent 
uncertainty  of  a  livelihood.  This  constant  uncer- 
tainty as  to  one's  own  condition  undermines  one's 
belief  in  the  permanence  of  the  existing  order  and 
one's  interest  in  its  preservation.  Whoever  is 
kept  in  eternal  fear  by  the  existing  order  loses  all 
fear  of  a  new  one. 

Excessive  work,  lack  of  work,  the  destruction 
of  the  family — these  are  the  gifts  that  the  capital- 
ist system  of  production  brings  to  the  proletariat, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  forces  more  and  more  of 
the  population  into  proletarian  conditions  of 
living. 


THE    PROLETARIAT  35 

6.    The  Increase  of  the  Proletariat.    Mercantile  and 
Educated  Proletariat. 

It  is  not  only  through  the  extension  of  large 
production  that  the  capitalist  system  causes  the 
condition  of  the  proletariat  to  become  more  and 
more  that  of  the  whole  population.  It  brings  this 
about  also  through  the  fact  that  the  condition  of 
the  wage-earner  engaged  in  large  production 
strikes  the  keynote  for  the  condition  of  the  wage- 
earners  in  all  other  branches.  The  conditions 
under  which  the  latter  work  and  live  are  revolu- 
tionized ;  the  advantages  which  they  may  have 
had  over  those  engaged  in  capitalist  industry  are 
turned  into  so  many  disadvantages  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  latter.  To  illustrate :  Where,  for 
example,  the  craftsman  still  boards  and  lives  with 
his  master,  this  arrangement  becomes  a  means  of 
forcing  him  to  be  content  with  even  poorer  board 
and  lodging  than  those  of  the  wage-earner  who 
carries  on  his  own  household. 

There  is  another  and  very  extensive  domain  in 
which  the  capitalist  system  of  large  production 
tends  to  turn  the  population  into  proletarians — 
the  domain  of  commerce.  The  large  stores  are 
already  bearing  heavily  upon  the  smaller  ones. 
The  number  of  small  stores  does  not,  for  that 
reason,  diminish.  On  the  contrary,  it  increases. 
The  small  store  is  the  last  refuge  of  the  bankrupt 
small  producer.  Were  the  small  stores  actually 
crowded  out,  the  ground  would  be  wholly  taken 
from  under  the  feet  of  the  small  traders;  they 
would  then  be  thrust  forthwith  below  the  class  of 
the  proletariat — into  the  slums ;  they  would  be 
turned  into  beggars,  vagabonds  and  candidates 


36  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

for  the  penitentiary — a  wonderful  social  reform! 

But  it  is  not  in  the  reduction  of  the  number 
of  small  stores,  it  is  in  the  debasement  of  their 
character  that  the  influence  of  large  production 
manifests  itself  in  commerce.  The  small  trader 
deals  in  ever  worse  and  cheaper  goods;  his  life 
becomes  more  precarious,  more  proletarian.  In 
the  large  stores,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  constant 
increase  in  the  number  of  employes — genuine 
proletarians  without  prospect  of  ever  becoming 
independent.  Child  labor,  the  labor  of  women, 
with  its  accompaniment  of  prostitution,  excessive 
work,  lack  of  work,  starvation  wages — all  the 
symptoms  of  large  production — appear  also  in 
increasing  quantity  in  the  domain  of  commerce. 
Steadily  the  condition  of  the  employes  in  this 
department  approaches  that  of  the  proletarians  in 
the  department  of  production.  The  only  differ- 
ence perceptible  between  the  two  is  that  the  for- 
mer preserve  the  appearances  of  a  better  living, 
which  require  sacrifices  unknown  to  the  indus- 
trial proletarians. 

There  is  still  a  third  category  of  proletarians 
that  has  gone  far  on  the  road  to  its  complete  de- 
velopment— the  educated  proletarians.  Educa- 
tion has  become  a  special  trade  under  our  pres- 
ent system.  The  measure  of  knowledge  has  in- 
creased greatly  and  grows  daily.  Capitalist  society 
and  the  capitalist  state  are  increasingly  in  need 
of  men  of  knowledge  and  ability  to  conduct  their 
business,  in  order  to  bring  the  forces  of  nature 
under  their  power.  But  not  only  the  hard-work- 
ing small  farmer,  mechanic  or  the  proletarian  in 
general  have  no  time  to  devote  themselves  to  sci- 


THE   PROLETARIAT  3? 

ence  and  art ;  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  the 
banker,  the  stock-jobber,  the  landlord — all  are  in 
the  same  situation.  Their  whole  time  is  taken  up 
with  their  business  and  their  pleasures.  In  mod- 
ern society  it  is  not,  as  it  used  to  be  under  pre- 
vious social  orders,  the  exploiters  themselves,  or 
at  least  a  class  of  them,  who  foster  the  arts  and 
sciences.  The  present  exploiters,  our  ruling  class, 
leave  these  pursuits  to  a  special  class  whom  they 
keep  in  hire.  /JJnder  this  system  education  be- 
comes a  merchandise.^ 

A  hundred  years  or  so  ago  this  commodity  was 
rare.  There  were  few  schools ;  study  was  ac- 
companied with  considepable  expense.  So  long 
as  small  production  could  support  him,  the 
worker  stuck  to  it;  only  special  gifts  of  nature 
or  favorable  circumstances  would  cause  the  sons 
of  the  Workers  to  dedicate  themselves  to  the  arts 
and  sciences.  Though  there  was  an  increasing 
demand  for  teachers,  artists  and  other  profes- 
sional men,  the  supply  was  definitely  limited. 

So  long  as  this  condition  of  things  lasted,  edu- 
cation commanded  a  high  price.  Its  possession 
produced,  at  least  for  those  who  applied  it  to 
practical  ends,  very  comfortable  livings ;  not  in- 
frequently it  brought  honor  and  fame.  The 
artist,  the  poet,  the  philosopher,  were,  in  mon- 
archical countries,  the  companions  of  royalty. 
The  aristocracy  of  intellect  felt  itself  superior  to 
the  aristocracy  of  birth  or  money.  The  only  care 
of  suth  was  the  development  of  their  intellect. 
Hence  it  happened  that  people  of  culture  could 
be,  and  often  were,  idealists.  These  aristocrats 
of  education  and  culture  stood  above  the  other 


38  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

classes  and  their  material  aspirations  and  antag- 
onisms. Education  meant  power,  happiness  and 
worth.  The  conclusion  seemed  inevitable  that  in 
order  to  make  all  men  happy  and  worthy,  in 
order  to  banish  all  class  antagonisms,  all  poverty, 
all  wickedness  and  meanness  out  of  the  world, 
nothing  else  was  needed  than  to  spread  education 
and  culture. 

Since  those  days  the  development  of  higher  ed- 
ucation has  made  immense  progress.  The  num- 
ber of  institutions  of  learning  has  increased  won- 
derfully, and  in  a  still  larger  degree,  the  number 
of  pupils.  In  the  meantime  the  bottom  has 
been  knocked  out  of  small  production.  The  small 
property  holder  knows  today  no  other  way  of 
keeping  his  sons  from  sinking  into  the  proletariat 
than  sending  them  to  college ;  and  he  does  this 
if  his  means  will  at  all  allow.  But,  furthermore, 
he  must  consider  the  future  not  only  of  his  sons, 
but  also  of  his  daughters.  The  development  in 
the  division  of  labor  is  rapidly  encroaching  on 
the  household;  it  is  converting  one  household 
duty  after  another  into  a  special  industry,  and 
steadily  diminishing  household  work.  Weaving, 
sewing,  knitting,  baking,  and  many  other  occu- 
pations that  at  one  time  filled  up  the  round  of 
household  duties,  have  been  either  wholly  or  par- 
tially withdrawn  from  the  sphere  of  housekeep- 
ing. As  a  result  of  all  this,  marriage  in  which 
the  wife  is  to  be  the  housekeepr  only,  is  becom- 
ing more  and  more  a  matter  of  luxury.  But  it 
so  happens  that  the  small  property  holder  and 
producer  is  at  the  same  time  sinking  steadily,  and 
steadily  becoming  poorer;  more   and   more   be 


THE    PROLETARIAT  39 

loses  the  means  to  indulge  in  luxury.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  the  number  of  unmarried  women 
increases,  and  ever  larger  is  the  number  of  those 
families  in  which  mother  and  daughter  must  be- 
come wage-earners.  Accordingly  the  number  of 
women  wage-earners  increases,  not  only  in  large 
and  small  production  and  commerce,  but  in  gov- 
ernment offices,  in  the  telegraph  and  telephone 
service,  in  railroads  and  banks,  in  the  arts  and 
sciences.  However  loudly  personal  interests  and 
prejudices  may  rebel  against  it,  the  labor  of 
women  presses  itself  forward  more  and  more 
into  the  various  professional  pursuits.  It  is  not 
vanity,  nor  forwardness  nor  arrogance,  but  the 
force  of  economic  development  that  drives 
women  to  labor  in  these  as  well  as  in  other 
fields  of  human  activity.  If  men  have  succeeded 
in  preventing  the  competition  of  women  in  cer- 
tain branches  of  intellectual  labor  which  are  still 
organized  on  craft  lines,  women  workers  tend  to 
crowd  all  the  more  into  the  pursuits  not  so  or- 
ganized, for  example,  authorship,  painting, 
music. 

The  result  of  this  whole  development  is  that 
the  number  of  educated  people  has  increased 
enormously.  Nevertheless,  the  beneficent  results 
which  the  idealists  expected  from  an  increase  of 
education  have  not  followed.  So  long  as  educa- 
tion is  a  merchandise,  its  extension  is  equivalent 
to  an  increase  in  the  quantity  of  that  merchan- 
dise, consequently  to  the  falling  in  its  price  and 
the  decline  in  the  condition  of  those  who  possess 
it.  The  number  of  educated  people  has  grown 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  more  than  suffices  for  the 


40  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

wants  of  the  capitalists  and  the  capitalist  state. 
The  labor  market  of  educated  labor  is  today,  as 
overstocked  as  the  market  of  manual  labor.  It 
is  no  longer  the  manual  workers  alone  who  have 
their  reserve  army  of  the  unemployed  and  are  af- 
flicted with  lack  of  work;  the  educated  workers 
also  have  their  reserve  army  of  idle,  and  among 
them  also  lack  of  work  has  taken  up  its  perma- 
nent quarters.  The  seekers  for  public  office  find 
that  avenue  of  employment  crowded.  Those  who 
seek  openings  elsewhere  experience  the  extremes 
of  idleness  and  excessive  work  just  as  do  the 
manual  workers,  and  like  them  are  the  victims,  of 
wage-slavery. 

The  condition  of  the  educated  workers  deteri- 
orates visibly;  formerly  people  spoke  of  the  "aris- 
tocracy of  intellect,"  today  we  speak  of  the  "in- 
tellectual" or  "educated"  proletariat. 

The  time  is  near  when  the  bulk  of  these  prole- 
tarians will  be  distinguished  from  the  others  only 
by  their  pretensions.     Most  of  them  still  imagine 
that  they  are  something  better  than  proletarians. 
~They  fancy  they  belong  to  the  bourgeoisie,  just 
as  the  lackey  identifies  himself  with  the  class  of 
/    of  his  master.    They  have  ceased  to  be  the  lead-" 
I   .^JS  of  the  ra^fMto4i<^f-f4^<^^-a-nH  Viav(^  hproQTe  rather 
/     their  defenders.     Place-hunting  takes  more  "and 
^^Tore  of  their  energies.     Their  first  care  is,  not 
the  development  of  their  intellect,  but  the  sale  of 
it.    The  prostitution  of  their  individuality  has  be- 
come their  chief  means  of  advancement.     Like 
the  small  producers,  they  are  dazzled  by  the  few 
brilliant  prizes  in  the  lottery  of  life;  they  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  numberless  blanks  in  the  wheel 
and  barter  away  soul  and  body  for  the  merest 


THE    PROLETARIAT  41 

chance  of  drawing  such  a  prize.  The  barter  and 
sale  of  one's  convictions  and  the  marriage  for 
money  are,  in  the  eyes  of  most  of  our  educated 
proletarians,  two  means,  as  natural  as  they  are 
necessary,  to  "make  one's  fortune." 

Still,  the  supply  of  this  class  grows  so  rapidly 
that  there  is  little  to  be  made  out  of  education, 
even  though  one  throws  his  individuality  into 
the  bargain.  The  decline  of  the  mass  of  edu- 
cated people  into  the  class  of  the  proletariat  can 
no  longer  be  checked. 

Whether  this  development  will  result  in  a 
movement  of  the  educated  people  to  join  the  bat- 
tling proletariat  in  mass  and  not,  as  hitherto, 
singly,  is  still  uncertain.  This  however,  is  cer- 
tain :  The  fact  that  the  educated  people  are  being 
forced  into  the  proletariat  has  closed  to  the  pro- 
letarians the  only  gate  through  which  its  members 
could,  by  diht  of  their  own  unaided  efforts,  es- 
cape into  the  class  above. 

The  possibility  of  the  wage-earner  becoming  a 
capitalist  is,  in  the  ordinary  run_of_£iieiits,jQUt-af 
thequestion.  "Sensible  people  donot  consider  the 
chance  of  winning  a  prize  in  a  lottery  or  of  fall- 
ing heir  to  the  wealth  of  some  unknown  relative 
when  they  deal  with  the  condition  of  the  work- 
ing-class. Under  certain  particularly  favorable 
conditions  it  has  sometimes  happened  that  a 
workman  succeeded,  through  great  privations,  in 
saving  up  enough  to  start  a  little  industry  of  his 
own,  or  to  set  up  a  little  retail  shop,  or  to  give 
his  son  a  chance  to  study  and  become  something 
"better"  than  his  father.  But  it  was  always  ridic- 
ulous to  hold  out  such  possibilities  to  the  work- 
man as  a  means  of  improving  his  condition.    In 


42  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

the  ordinary  course  of  events  the  working-man 
may  thank  his  stars  if  he  is  at  all  able,  even  dur- 
ing good  times,  to  lay  by  enough  not  to  remain 
empty-handed  when  work  becomes  slack.  Today, 
however,  to  hold  out  such  hopes  to  working-men 
is  more  ridiculous  than  ever.*  The  economic  de- 
velopment makes  saving  not  only  more  difficult, 
but  it  renders  it  impossible  for  a  working-man, 
even  if  he  succeeds  in  saving  something,  to  pull 
himself  and  his  children  out  of  the  class  of  the 
proletariat.  To  invest  his  little  savings  in  some 
small  independent  industry  were  for  him  to  fall 
from  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire ;  ten  to  one  he 
will  be  thrown  back  to  his  previous  condition, 
with  the  bitter  experience  that  the  small  producer 
can  no  longer  keep  his  head  above  water — an 
experience  which  he  will  have  purchased  with 
the  loss  of  his  hard-earned  savings. 

Today,  whichever  way  the  proletarian  may 
turn,  he  finds  awaiting  him  the  same  proletarian 
conditions  of  life.  These  conditions  pervade  so- 
ciety more  and  more.  In  all  countries  the  mass 
of  the  population  has  sunk  to  the  level  of  the 
proletariat.  To  the  individual  proletarian  the 
prospect  has  vanished  of  ever  being  able,  by  his 
own  efforts,  to  pull  himself  out  of  the  quagmire 
into  which  the  present  system  of  production  has 
pushed  him.  The  individual  proletarian  can  ac- 
complish his  own  redemption  only  with  the  re- 
demption of  his  whole  class. 

*Note. — In  America  the  conditions  under  which  a  prole- 
tarian is  able  to  rise  into  the  bourgeois  class  have  been  pro- 
longed by  the  abundance  of  our  natural  resources  and  the 
existence  of  an  open  frontier.  But  if  the  author's  statements 
in  regard  to  this  matter  are  not  strictly  applicable  to  our 
society,   they   tend   more   and   more   to   become   so. — Translator. 


m.    THE  CAPITALIST  CLASS. 

1.    Commerce  and  Credit. 

In  countries  where  the  capitalist  system  of  pro- 
duction prevails  the  masses  of  the  people  are 
forced  down  to  the  condition  of  proletarians ;  that 
is  to  say,  of  workers  who  are  divorced  from  their 
instruments  of  production  so  that  they  can  pro- 
duce nothing  by  their  own  efforts,  and,  therefore, 
are  compelled  to  sell  the  only  commodity  they 
possess — their  labor-power.  To  this  class,  also, 
belong  the  majority  of  the  farmers,  small  pro- 
ducers and  traders ;  the  little  property  they  still 
possess  today  is  but  a  thin  veil,  calculated  rather 
to  conceal  than  to  prevent  their  dependence  and 
exploitation. 

Over  against  this  class  we  find  a  small  group 
of  property  holders — capitalists  and  landlords — 
who  alone  possess  the  most  important  means  of 
production  and  the  most  important  sources  of 
livelihood,  the  exclusive  ownership  of  which  in- 
vests them  with  the  power  to  subjugate  the  class 
of  propertyless  and  to  exploit  them. 

While  the  majority  of  the  people  sink  ever 
deeper  in  want  and  misery,  this  small  group  of 
capitalists  and  landlords,  together  with  their 
parasites,  appropriate  all  the  tremendous  advan- 
tages that  have  been  wrung  from  nature,  espe- 
cially through  the  progress  made  by  the  natural 
sciences  and  their  practical  application. 

There  are  three  sorts  of  capital :  merchant's 
capital,    interest-bearing    capital    and    industrial 

43 


44  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

capital.  The  last  of  these  is  the  youngest;  per- 
haps it  is  not  as  many  hundred  years  old  as  th* 
other  two  are  thousands.  But  the  youngest  of 
these  brothers  has  grown  faster,  much  faster, 
than  either  of  his  seniors ;  he  has  become  a  giant 
who  has  enslaved  and  forced  them  into  his  serv- 
ice. 

In  its  classic  form  small  production  was  not 
dependent  on  commerce.  The  farmer  and  the 
mechanic  could  acquire  the  means  of  production, 
in  so  far  as  they  needed  any,  direct  from  the  pro- 
ducer; furthermore,  they  could  sell  their  prod- 
uct directly  to  the  consumer.  Commerce,  at  that 
stage  of  economic  development,  catered  chiefly  to 
luxury;  it  was  not  then  a  matter  of  necessity, 
either  for  the  promotion  of  production  or  for  the 
support  of  society. 

Capitalist  production,  however,  is  from  the 
very  start  dependent  upon  commerce;  and  vice 
versa,  from  a  certain  stage  on,  commerce  needs 
capitalist  production  for  its  further  development. 
The  further  the  capitalist  system  of  production 
extends,  and  the  more  dominant  it  becomes,  the 
more  requisite  is  the  development  of  commerce 
to  the  whole  industrial  life.  Commerce  today  no 
longer  caters  simply  to  superfluity  and  luxury. 
The  whole  system  of  production,  yes,  even  the 
sustenance  of  the  people,  in  a  capitalist  country, 
depends  now  upon  the  free  and  unrestricted 
action  of  commerce.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  war  is  more  devastating  than  ever;  it  inter- 
rupts commerce,  and  that  has  become  equivalent 
to  a  stoppage  of  production,  to  a  suspension  of 
economic   life,   and   to   an   industrial   ruin   that 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  45 

spreads  beyond  the  field  of  battle  and  is  not  less 
mischievous  than  the  devastation  that  takes  place 
there. 

As  important  as  the  development  of  commerce 
is  that  of  interest  to  the  capitalist  system  of  pro- 
duction. In  the  days  of  the  small  producer  the 
money-lender  was  simply  a  parasite,  who  profited 
by  the  distress  or  improvidence  of  others.  The 
money  which  he  lent  to  others  was,  as  a  rule,  put 
to  unproductive  uses.  If,  for  instance,  a  noble- 
man borrowed  money,  he  did  so  to  spend  it  in 
pleasure;  if  a  farmer  or  mechanic  borrowed 
money,  it  was  mainly  to  pay  his  taxes  or  the  cost 
of  lawsuits.  In  those  days  lending  at  interest 
was  considered  immoral  and  was  everywhere  con- 
demned. 

Under  the  capitalist  system  of  production  this 
has  all  changed.  Money  is  now  a  means  whereby 
to  establish  a  capitalist  industry,  to  buy  and  to 
exploit  labor-power.  When  today  a  capitalist 
raises  money  in  order  to  establish  a  factory,  or 
to  enlarge  one  already  in  existence  it  does  not 
follow — provided,  of  course,  that  his  undertak- 
ing prosper — that  his  previous  income  will  be  re- 
duced by  the  interest  on  the  loan.  The  loan,  on 
the  contrary,  helps  him  to  exploit  labor-power, 
consequently,  to  increase  his  income  by  an 
amount  larg€4^-than^  the  interest  ll^  will  have"  to 
pay^  Therefore,  under  the  capittrit*t~sy-st€tti  of 
production,  lending  has  lost  its  original  character. 
Its  role  as  a  means  for  the  exploitation  of  dis- 
tress or  improvidence  is  pushed  to  the  rear  by  a 
new  one,  that  of  "fructifying"  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem of  production,  that  is  to  say,  of  enabling  it 


46  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

to  develop  faster  than  it  otherwise  would  by  the 
mere  hoarding  of  capital  in  the  vaults  of  indus- 
trial capitalists.  The  horror  once  entertained  for 
a  lender  has  come  to  an  end;  he  now  becomes  a 
spotless  character  and  receives  a  new  and 
euphonious  name,  creditor. 

Simultaneously  with  this  metamorphosis,  the 
principal  current  of  interest-bearing  capital  un- 
derwent a  change.  The  money  which  the  lenders 
heaped  up  in  their  vaults  flowed  formerly  out  of 
those  reservoirs,  through  a  thousand  channels, 
into  the  hands  of  the  non-capitalists.  Today,  on 
the  contrary,  the  vaults  of  the  lenders,  the  insti- 
tutions of  credit,  have  become  the  reservoirs  into 
which  there  flow,  through  a  thousand  channels, 
money  from  non-capitalists,  and  out  of  which  this 
money  is  then  conveyed  to  the  capitalist.  Credit 
is  today,  just  as  it  was  formerly,  a  means  where- 
by to  render  non-capitalists — whether  property 
holders  or  propertyless — subject  to  the  payment 
of  interest;  today,  however,  it  has,  further,  be- 
come a  powerful  instrument  wherewith  to  con- 
vert into  capital  the  property  in  the  hands  of  the 
various  classes  of  non-capitalists,  from  the  large 
estates  of  endowed  institutions  and  aristocrats 
down  to  the  pennies  saved  by  servant  girls  and 
day  laborers.  In  other  words,  it  has  become 
an  instrument  for  the  displacing  of  the  old  prop- 
ertied classes  and  the  intensified  exploitation  of 
the  wage-earners.  People  praise  the  present  in- 
stitutions of  credit,  savings  banks,  etc.,  thinking 
that  they  turn  the  small  savings  of  working-men, 
servant  girls  and  farmers  into  capital  and  these 
unfortunates  themselves  into  "capitalists."    Nev- 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  47 

ertheless,  the  only  object  in  collecting  the  money 
of  non-capitalists  is  to  place  at  the  disposal  of 
capitalists  an  increased  quantity  of  capital  and 
thus  to  accelerate  the  development  of  the  capital- 
ist system  of  production.  What  this  means  to 
wage-earners,  small  farmers  and  mechanics  we 
have  already  seen. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  present  institutions 
of  credit  are  converting  the  whole  property  of 
non-capitalists  into  capital  and  placing  it  at  the 
disposal  of  the  capitalist  class,  they  see  to  it  that 
the  capital  of  the  capitalist  class  itself  is  better 
utilized  than  before.  They  become  the  reservoirs 
of  all  the  money  which  the  individual  capitalist 
may,  from  time  to  time,  have  no  occasion  to  use, 
and  they  make  these  sums,  which  otherwise 
would  have  lain  "dead,"  accessible  to  such  other 
capitalists  as  may  stand  in  need  of  them.  Fur- 
thermore, they  make  it  possible  to  convert  mer- 
chandise into  money  before  it  is  sold,  and  there- 
by diminish  the  quantity  of  capital  formerly 
needed  in  a  given  business  undertaking. 

Through  all  these  means  the  quantity  and 
power  of  the  capital  at  the  disposal  of  the  capi- 
talist class  is  enormously  increased.  Hence  it  is 
that  credit  has  now  become  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful levers  of  the  capitalist  system  of  produc- 
tion. Next  to  the  great  development  of  ma- 
chinery and  the  creation  of  the  reserve  army  of 
unemployed  labor,  credit  is  the  principal  cause  of 
the  rapid  development  of  the  present  system. 

Credit  is,  however,  much  more  sensitive  than 
commerce  to  any  disturbance.  Every  shock  it 
receives  is  felt  throughout  the  economic  organi- 
zation. 


48  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

Many  political  economists  have  looked  upon 
credit  as  a  means  whereby  people  without  any,  or 
with  little,  property  could  be  turned  into  capi- 
talists. But,  as  its  name  indicates,  credit  rests 
upon  the  confidence  of  him  who  gives,  in  him 
who  takes,  credit.  The  more  the  latter  possesses, 
the  grater  is  the  security  that  he  offers,  and  the 
greater  is  the  security  that  he  enjoys.  Conse- 
quently, credit  is  only  a  means  whereby  more 
money  may  be  furnished  to  the  capitalists  than 
they  possess,  thereby  to  increase  their  preponder- 
ance and  to  draw  sharper  the  social  antagonisms, 
instead  of  to  weaken  or  remove  them. 

To  sum  up,  credit  is  not  only  a  means  whereby 
to  develop  the  capitalist  system  of  production 
more  rapidly,  and  to  enable  it  to  turn  to  use  every 
favorable  opportunity;  it  is  also  a  means  where- 
by to  promote  the  downfall  of  small  production ; 
and,  lastly,  it  is  a  means  to  render  modern  indus- 
try more  and  more  complicated  and  liable  to  dis- 
turbance, to  carry  the  feeling  of  uncertainty  into 
the  ranks  of  the  capitalists  themselves  and  to 
make  the  ground  upon  which  they  move  ever 
more  uncertain. 

2.    Division  of  Labofand  Competition. 

While,  on  the  one  hand,  the  industrial  devel- 
opment draws  commerce  and  credit  in  ever  closei 
relation  with  industry,  it  brings  about,  on  thfe 
other  hand,  an  increased  division  of  labon;  th* 
various  functions  which  the  capitalist  has  to  ful- 
fill in  the  industrial  life,  divide  m®re  and  more 
'and  fall  to  the  part  of  separate  undertakings  anci 
institutions.      Formerly,   it   was   the   merchant's 


THE  CAPITALIST  CLASS  49 

function  not  only  to  buy  and  sell  goods,  but  to 
store  them,  and  often  to  carry  them  to  far  dis- 
tant markets.  He  had  to  assort  his  goods,  dis- 
play them,  and  render  them  accessible  to  the  indi- 
vidual purchaser.  Today  there  is  a  division  of 
labor  not  between  w^holesale  and  retail  trade 
only;  we  find  also  large  undertakings  for  the 
transportation  and  the  storing  of  goods.  In  those 
large  central  markets  called  exchanges,  buying 
and  selling  have  to  such  an  extent  become  sepa- 
rate pursuits  and  freed  themselves  from  the 
other  functions  commonly  pertaining  to  the  mer- 
chant, that  not  only  are  goods  located  in  distant 
regions,  or  even  not  yet  produced,  bought  and 
sold  there,  but  that  goods  are  bought  without  the 
purchaser  intending  to  take  possession  of  them, 
and  others  are  sold  without  the  seller  ever  having 
had  them  in  his  possession. 

In  former  days  a  capitalist  could  not  be  con- 
ceived without  the  thought  of  a  large  safe  into 
which  money  was  collected  and  out  of  which  he 
took  the  funds  which  he  needed  to  make  pay- 
ments. Today  the  treasury  of  the  capitalist  has 
become  the  subject  of  a  separate  occupation  in  all 
industrially  advanced  countries,  especially  Eng- 
land and  America.  The  bank  has  sprung  up. 
Payments  are  no  longer  made  to  a  capitalist,  but 
to  his  bank,  and  from  his  bank,  not  from  him,  are 
his  debts  collected.  And  so  it  happens  that  a  few 
central  concerns  perform  today  the  functions  of 
treasury  for  the  whole  capitalist  class  of  the 
country. 

But  although  the  several  functions  of  the  cap- 
italist thus  become  the  functions  of  separate  un- 


50  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

dertakings,  they  do  not  become  independent  of 
each  other  except  in  appearance  and  legal  form; 
economically,  they  remain  as  closely  bound  to  and 
dependent  upon  each  other  as  ever.  The  func- 
tions of  any  of  these  undertakings  could  not  con- 
tinue if  those  of  any  of  the  others  with  which 
they  are  connected  were  to  be  interrupted. 

The  more  commerce,  credit  and  industry  be- 
come interdependent  and  the  more  the  separate 
functions  of  the  capitalist  class  are  assumed  by 
separate  undertakings,  the  greater  is  the  depend- 
ence of  one  capitalist  upon  another.  Capitalist 
production  becomes,  accordingly,  more  and  more 
a  gigantic  body,  whose  various  limbs  are  in  the 
closest  relation  to  each  other.  Thus,  while  the 
masses  of  the  people  become  ever  more  depend- 
ent upon  the  capitalists,  the  capitalists  them- 
selves become  ever  more  dependent  upon  one 
another. 

The  economic  machinery  of  the  modern  sys- 
tem of  production  constitutes  a  more  and  more 
delicate  and  complicated  mechanism;  its  uninter- 
rupted operation  depends  constantly  more  upon 
whether  each  of  its  wheels  fits  in  with  the  others 
and  does  the  work  expected  of  it.  Never  yet  did 
any  system  of  production  stand  in  such  need  of 
careful  direction  as  does  the  present  one.  But 
the  institution  of  private  property  makes  it  im- 
possible to  introduce  plan  and  order  into  this  sys- 
tem. 

While  the  several  industries  become,  in  point 
of  fact,  more  and  more  dependent  upon  one  an- 
other, in  point  of  law,  they  remain  wholly  inde- 
pendent.   The  means  of  production  in  every  sin- 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  51 

gle  industry  are  private  property;  their  owner 
can  do  with  them  as  he  pleases. 

The  farther  large  production  develops,  the 
larger  every  single  industry  becomes,  the  better 
is  the  order  to  which  the  economic  activity  of 
each  is  reduced,  and  the  more  accurate  and  well- 
considered  is  the  plan  upon  which  each  i^  carried 
on,  down  to  the  smallest  details.  The  joint  op- 
eration of  the  various  industries  is,  however,  left 
to  the  blind  force  of  free  competition.  It  is  at 
the  expense  of  a  prodigious  waste  of  power  and 
of  materials  and  under  stress  of  constantly  in- 
creasing economic  crises  that  free  competition 
keeps  the  industrial  mechanism  in  motion.  The 
process  goes  on,  not  by  putting  every  one  in  his 
place,  but  by  crushing  everyone  who  stands  in 
the  way.  This  is  what  is  called  "the  survival  of 
the  fittest  in  the  struggle  for  existence."  The  fact 
is,  however,  that  competition  crushes,  not  so  much 
the  truly  unfit,  as  those  who  happen  to  stand  in 
the  wrong  place,  and  who  lack  either  the  special 
qualifications  or,  what  is  more  important,  the  cap- 
ital to  survive.  But  competition  is  no  longer  sat- 
isfied with  crushing  those  who  are  unequal  to  the 
"struggle  for  existence."  The  destruction  of 
every  one  of  these  draws  in  its  wake  the  ruin  of 
numberless  others  who  were  economically  con- 
nected with  the  bankrupt  concern— wage-earn- 
ers, creditors,  etc. 

"Every  man  is  the  architect  of  his  own  for- 
tune." So  runs  a  favorite  proverb,  This  proverb 
is  an  heirloom  from  the  days  of  small  production, 
when  the  fate  of  every  singl?  bread-winner,  at 
most  that  of  his  family  also,  depended  upon  his 


52  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

own  personal  qualities.  Today  the  fate  of  every 
member  of  a  capitalist  community  depends  less 
and  less  upon  his  own  individuality,  and  more  and 
more  upon  a  thousand  circumstances  that  are 
wholly  beyond  his  control.  Competition  no 
longer  brings  about  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

3.    Profit. 

Whence  does  the  capitalist  class  derive  its  in- 
come? The  gains  of  merchant's  and  lender's 
capital  consisted  originally  of  the  portions  which 
they  withheld  from  the  property  of  those  depend- 
ent on  them,  who  might  represent  any  of  the  vari- 
ous classes.  It  is  otherwise  with  industrial  cap- 
ital. It  so  happens  that  in  proportion  as  the  cap- 
italist system  of  production  develops,  the  indus- 
trial form  of  capital  overshadows  all  others  and 
forces  them  into  its  service.  Furthermore,  it  can 
do  this  only  in  so  far  as  it  returns  to  them  a  part 
of  the  surplus  value  which  it  has  drawn  from  the 
workers.  As  a  result  of  this  development  the  sur- 
plus produced  by  the  proletarians  becomes  more 
and  more  the  only  source  from  which  the  whole 
capitalist  class  draws  its  income. 

As  the  small  industrialist  and  the  small  farmer 
are  disappearing  and  their  influence  upon  modern 
society  is  felt  ever  less,  so  also  are  disappearing 
the  old  forms  of  merchant's  and  interest-bearing 
capital,  both  of  which  made  their  gains  by  ex- 
ploiting the  non-capitalist  classes.  Already  there 
are  nations  without  independent  artisans  and 
small  farmers.  England  is  an  instance  in  point. 
But  no  one  can  conceive  of  a  single  modern  state 
without  large  production.     Whoever  desires  to 


THE  CAPITALIST   CLASS  53 

understand  the  modern  forms  of  capital  must 
proceed  from  the  industrial  form  that  capital  has 
assumed.  The  real  and  increasingly  important 
source  from  which  flow  capitalist  gains  is  to  be 
found  in  the  surplus  value  produced  by  capital 
industry. 

We  have  in  the  preceding  chapter  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  surplus  value  which  the  indus- 
trial proletarian  produces  and  the  industrial  cap- 
ital appropriates.  We  have  also  seen  how  the 
amount  of  the  surplus  value  produced  by  the  in- 
dividual laborer  increases  at  a  more  rapid  rate 
than  does  his  wage ;  this  is  brought  about  by  the 
increase  in  the  amount  of  labor,  introducing  la- 
bor-saving machinery  and  cheaper  forms  of 
labor.  At  the  same  time  there  is  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  proletarians.  So  the  amount  of 
the  surplus  accruing  to  the  capitalist  class  swells 
constantly  more  and  more. 

Unfortunately,  however,  "life's  unalloyed  en- 
joyment is  not  the  lot  of  mortal  man."  How- 
ever distasteful  it  may  be  to  him,  the  capitalist  is 
.compelled  to  "divide"  with  the  landowner  and  the 
state.  And  the  share  claimed  by  each  of  these  in- 
creases from  year  to  year. 

4.    Rent. 

W^hen  one  speaks  of  the  classes  which  are 
steadily  becoming  the  sole  property  holders  and 
exploiters,  the  monopolists  of  the  instruments  of 
production,  distinction  must  be  made  between  the 
capitalists  and  landlords. 

The  land  is  a  peculiar  means  of  production.  It 
is  the  most  necessary  of  all ;  without  it  no  human 


54  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

activity  is  possible ;  even  the  sailor  and  the  aero- 
naut need  a  point  of  departure  and  a  landing 
place.  Furthermore,  it  is  a  means  of  production 
that  cannot  be  increased  at  pleasure.  For  all  this 
it  must  be  noted  that  as  yet  it  has  but  rarely  hap- 
pened that  every  inch  of  ground  in  any  state  was 
actually  occupied  or  used  productively  by  its  in- 
habitants; even  in  China  there  are  still  wide 
stretches  of  unproductive  land. 

In  medieval  Europe  each  farmer  possessed  his 
buildings  and  parcel  of  land.  Water,  forest  and 
pasture  were  municipal  property,  and  there  was 
enough  land  so  that  each  might  be  given  posses- 
sion of  any  which  he  reduced  to  cultivation. 
Then  came  the  development  of  commodity-pro- 
duction. The  products  of  the  land  now  had  an 
exchange  value.  As  a  result  the  land  also  be- 
came, as  it  were,  a  product ;  it  had  a  value.  As 
soon  as  this  occurred  the  communities  began  to 
limit  their  numbers  and  take  measures  to  insure 
the  perpetual  possession  of  lands ;  they  became 
close  corporations. 

But  another  class,  the  feudal  lords,  were  also 
yearning  for  the  communal  property.  And  in 
regions  where  farming  on  a  large  scale  had  de- 
veloped they  succeeded  in  driving  the  small  farm- 
ers from  the  soil.  In  the  course  of  events  prac- 
tically all  land  became  the  private  property  of  a 
few. 

Thus  a  monopoly  has  come  into  existence,  and 
a  monopoly  of  an  altogether  extraordinary  sort. 
The  earth's  surface  is  held  by  a  few,  »not  only 
against  the  propertyless  proletarian  class,  but 
against  part  of  the  capitalist  class  itself.    A  part 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  55 

of  the  industrial  capitalist  class  may  for  a  time 
monopolize  a  branch  of  industry,  but  its  monop- 
oly is  never  absolute  or  permanent.  In  these  re- 
spects the  land  monopolists  have  the  advantage, 
their  monopoly  may  be  both  absolute  and  lasting. 

This  form  of  capitalism  is  most  highly  devel- 
oped in  England,  where  a  small  number  of  fam- 
ilies have  possession  of  all  the  land.  Whoever 
needs  land  obtains  the  use  of  it  only  by  paying 
rent.  As  a  rule  the  capitalist  cannot  buy  land  for 
a  factory  or  dwelling.  Thus  a  part  of  his  profit 
always  goes  to  the  landlord. 

In  most  parts  of  the  world,  however,  the 
line  is  not  so  sharply  drawn.  On  the  continent  of 
Europe,  for  example,  the  capitalist  manufacturer, 
mine  operator,  etc.,  usually  owns  the  land  neces- 
sary to  his  operations.  The  great  landowners,  on 
their  part,  usually  carry  on  their  farming  opera- 
tions themselves. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  capitalism  develops,  pro- 
letarians are  more  and  more  herded  in  cities.  This 
leads  to  an  unprecedented  heightening  of  land 
values  and  a  reinforcement  of  the  position  of  the 
land-owning  class.  Workers  must  pay  higher 
and  higher  rent,  and  this,  in  turn,  necessitates  an 
increase  in  their  wages.  Thus  once  more  the  in- 
dustrial capitalist  is  forced  to  share  his  spoils 
with  the  land-owner. 

5.    Taxes. 

If  the  landlord  appropriates  a  constantly  in- 
creasing proportion  of  the  capitalist's  surplus 
value,  the  state  is  not  less  active  in  the  same  di- 
rection.     The    modern    state    grew    with    and 


56  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

through  the  capitahst  class,  just  as,  in  turn,  it  has 
become  the  most  powerful  support  of  this  class. 
Each  has  promoted  the  interests  of  the  other. 
The  capitalist  class  cannot  forego  the  assistance 
of  the  state.  It  needs  the  powerful  hand  of  gov- 
ernment to  protect  it  against  foes  within  and 
without. 

The  further  the  capitalist  system  of  production 
develops,  the  sharper  become  the  contrasts  and 
contradictions  which  it  brings  forth,  the  more 
complex  becomes  its  operation,  the  greater  the  de- 
f^ndence  of  individuals  upon  each  other,  and 
consequently  the  more  imperative  the  need  of  an 
authority  which  will  see  to  it  that  each  fulfills  his 
economic  functions.  A  process  so  sensitive  as' 
modern  production  can  endure  less  easily  than 
any  previous  one  the  strain  attendant  on  the  set- 
tling of  differences  by  individual  trials  of 
strength.  In  place  of  self-dependence  appears 
now  a  legal  system  fostered  by  the  state. 

The  capitalist  system  is  by  no  means  the  prod- 
uct of  political  rights  or  laws.  It  is.  on  the  con- 
trary, the  needs  of  the  system  that  have  brought 
forth  the  laws  that  are  now  in  force.  These  laws 
do  not  create  the  exploitation  of  the  proletariat; 
they  only  provide  for  the  smooth  running  of  the 
system  of  exploitation,  together  with  all  the  other 
processes  pertaining  to  the  existing  social  order. 
Competition  being  styled  the  mainspring  of  pro- 
duction, law  may  be  designated  as  a  lubricating 
oil,  the  object  of  which  is  to  diminish  as  much 
as  possible  the  friction  produced  by  the  present 
social  mechanism. 

As  the  conditions  which  produce  this  friction 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  57 

grow  gradually  worse,  the  greater  becomes  the 
need  of  a  strong  state  power  to  enforce  the  law. 
For  example,  the  constantly  increasing  opposi- 
tion between  exploiters  and  exploited,  propertied 
and  propertyless,  steadily  augments  the  slum  ele- 
ment in  our  population  and  thus  increases  the 
necessity  for  a  large  police  force.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  each  capitalist  becomes  more  and  more 
dependent  on  the  co-operation  of  others  of  his 
class,  the  more  he  becomes  dependent  on  the  de- 
crees of  the  courts. 

But  the  capitalist  is  concerned  not  only  with 
peaceful  manufacture  and  trade  within  his  own 
country.  Foreign  trade  has  from  the  beginning 
played  an  important  part  in  our  industrial  system, 
and  the  greater  the  extent  to  which  it  becomes 
the  controlling  interest,  the  more  does  the  secur- 
ing and  developing  of  foreign  markets  become 
one  of  the  chief  concerns  of  the  entire  nation. 
But  in  the  world-market  the  capitalists  of  one 
nation  meet  those  of  another  as  competitors.  In 
order  to  oppose  these  competitors,  they  call  upon 
their  government  to  maintain  their  rights,  or.  bet- 
ter yet,  to  drive  out  their  foreign  competitors 
altogether.  Thus  as  states  and  monarchs  become 
more  and  more  dependent  on  the  capitalist  class 
armies  and  navies  become  more  exclusively  the 
tools  of  this  class.  Wars  are  no  more  dynastic, 
but  commercial,  and  finally  national ;  they  result 
from  economic  competition  between  the  capital- 
ists of  dififerent  nations. 

Thus  the  capitalist  system  needs,  not  only  an 
army  of  officials  to  operate  courts  and  police  de- 
partments, but  also  an  army  of  soldiers.     Both 


58  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

armies  tend  to  grow  rapidly,  but  during  recent 
years  the  latter  has  oustripped  the  former.  Fur- 
thermore, the  application  of  modern  science  to 
warfare^has  enormously  increased  its  cost.  As  a 
result,  the  military  expenditures  of  the  great 
world-states  have  increased  incredibly. 

The  state  is  becoming  constantly  more  expen- 
sive, its  burdens  ever  heavier,  Capitahsts  and 
landowners  try  everywhere  to  foist  these  bur- 
dens upon  the  other  classes.  But  the  poorer 
classes  grow  constantly  less  able  to  pay,  and  so 
despite  their  cunning,  the  exploiters  are  obliged 
to  increase  the  share  of  profits  which  they  turn 
over  to  the  state. 

6.    The  Falling  Off  in  the  Rate  of  Profit 

Simultaneously  with  this  development,  the 
quantity  of  the  capital  which  the  capitalist  class 
applies  productively  shows  a  tendency  to  increase 
more  rapidly  than  the  exploitation  of  the  work- 
ing-class, that  is  to  say,  more  rapidly  than  the 
mass  of  surplus  which  the  latter  creates. 

To  illustrate :  Compare  a  spinner  of  a  hundred 
years  ago  with  a  machine-weaver  of  today.  How 
enormous  is  the  capital  required  to  enable  the  lat- 
ter to  work!  On  the  other  hand,  the  capital 
which  the  capitalist  invested  in  hand-weaving  was 
trifling  in  comparison.  The  exploited  hand-spin- 
ner may  have  worked  at  home.  In  that  case  the 
capitalist  paid  him  his  wages  and  gave  him  the 
cotton  or  flax  which  he  needed.  In  point  of 
wages  there  has  not  been  much  change,  but  a 
machine-weaver  consumes  today  in  production  a 
hundred  times  more  raw  material  than  the  for- 


THE  CAPITALIST  CLASS  59 

mer  hand-weaver ;  over  and  abovd"  that,  how  tre- 
mendous are  today  the  buildings,  power  engines, 
looms,  etc.,  necessary  to  carry  on  the  industry. 

There  is  still  another  thing  to  be  considered. 
The  only  outlays  of  the  capitalist  who  a  hundred 
years  ago  employed  a  spinner  were  for  wages 
and  raw  material,  there  was  not  then  any  fixed 
capital,  for  the  cost  of  the  spinning-wheel  was 
too  trifling  to  consider.  He  turned  his  capital 
over  quickly,  say  every  three  months ;  as  a  result 
of  this,  he  needed,  to  start  with,  only  one-quarter 
of  the  capital  which  he  used  during  the  whole 
year.  Today  the  capital  invested  in  a  spinning-mill 
for  machinery  and  buildings  is  enormous.  Even 
though  the  time  within  which  the  capitalist  could 
get  back  the  sum  he  pays  out  in  wages  and  for 
raw  materials  were  now  the  same  as  it  was  a 
hundred  years  ago,  the  time  which  it  now  takes 
him  to  get  back  the  rest  of  his  capital,  which  a 
hundred  years  ago  he  hardly  needed,  has  become 
a  very  long  one. 

A  number  of  circumstances  work  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  Among  these  the  most  important 
are  the  recently  developed  system  of  credit  and 
the  decline  in  the  value  of  products,  the  latter  of 
which  is  the-  inevitable  result  of  the  increase  in 
the  productivity  of  labor.  But  neither  of  these 
causes  is  sufficient  to  counteract  the  effect  of  the 
others.  In  all  branches  of  production,  in  some 
slowly,  in  others  rapidly,  the  quantity  of  capital 
necessary  for  production  grows  perceptibly  from 
year  to  year. 

Let  it  be  assumed  tliat  the  capital  necessary  for 
a  certain  industry  a  hundred  years  ago  wa^  $100, 


60  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

and  that  today  the  amount  necessary  is  $1,000, 
and,  furthermore,  that  the  amount  exploited  from 
labor  is  now  five  times  as  large  as  then,  i.  e.,  that 
whereas  the  surplus  which  labor  formerly  pro- 
duced was  $50,  today  it  is  $250.  In  this  case  the 
quantity  of  the  surplus  has  increased  absolutely ; 
nevertheless,  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  cap- 
ital invested,  the  surplus  value  has  decreased.  A 
hundred  years  ago  this  proportion  was  50  per 
cent,  today  it  is  only  25  per  cent.  This  instance 
is  simply  an  illustration  meant  to  point  out  a 
tendency. 

The  total  amount  of  surplus  yearly  produced 
in  this,  as  a  capitalist  country,  increases  rapidly ; 
but  still  more  rapidly  grows  the  total  amount  of 
capital  invested  by  the  capital  class  in  their  es- 
tablishments. If  now  it  be  considered  that  tax- 
ation and  rent  carry  off  yearly  an  ever  larger 
portion  of  the  capitalists'  surplus,  the  phenom- 
enon may  be  explained  that  the  quantity  of  sur- 
plus that  will  accrue  to  a  certain  amount  of  capi- 
tal tends  steadily  to  diminish,  notwithstanding 
that  the  amount  of  exploitation  of  labor  tends 
steadily  to  increase.  \ 

Accordingly,  profit,  that  is  to  say.  the  portion 
of  the  surplus  produced  by  labor  which  a  capi- 
talist retains,  shows  a  tendency  to  decline  in  pro- 
portion to  the  quantity  of  capital  he  invests.  Or, 
to  put  it  another  way,  in  the  course  of  the  devel- 
opment of  the  capitalist  system  of  production, 
the  profit  which  a  given  quantity  of  capital  yields 
tends  to  go  down.  This,  of  course,  holds  good 
only  on  the  average  and  during  long  periods  of 
time.  An  evidence  of  this  downward  tendency 
of  profit  is  the  steady  decline  of  interest. 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  61 

It  happens,  therefore,  that  while  tke  exploita- 
tion of  the  working-man  tends  to  rise,  the  rate  of 
capitalist  protit  has  a  tendency  to  sink.  This  fact 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  contradictions  of 
the  capitalist  system  of  production — a  system  that 
bristles  with  contradictions. 

Some  there  are  who  have  concluded  from  this 
sinking  of  profits  that  the  capitalist  system  of 
exploitation  will  put  an  end  to  itself,  that  capital 
will  eventually  yield  so  little  profit  that  starva- 
tion will  force  the  capitalists  to  look  for  work. 
This  conclusion  would  be  correct,  if,  as  the  rate 
of  profits  sank,  the  quantity  of  invested  capital 
remained  the  same.  This,  however,  is  by  no 
means  the  case.  The  total  quantity  of  capital  in 
all  capitalist  nations  grows  at  a  more  rapid  pace 
than  the  rate  of  profit  declines.  The  increase  of 
capital  is  a  prerequisite  to  the  sinking  of  profit, 
and  if  a  capitalist's  investment  has  increased  from 
one  million  to  two,  and  from  two  million  to  four, 
his  income  is  not  reduced  when  the  rate  of  profit 
sinks  from  5  per  cent  to  4,  and  from  4  to  3. 

The  decline  of  the  rate  of  profit,  and  likewise 
of  interest,  in  no  way  implies  a  reduction  of  the 
income  of  the  cajjitalist  class,  for  the  mass  of  sur- 
plus that  flows  into  its  hands  grows  constantly 
larger;  the  decline  diminishes  solely  the  income 
of  those  capitalists  who  are  not  able  correspond- 
ingly to  increase  their  capital.  In  the  course  of 
industrial  development,  it  takes  a  constantly  in- 
creasing amount  of  capital  to  support  its  owner 
with  the  "dignity  of  his  class."  The  quantity  of 
capital  requisite  to  free  its  owner  from  labor,  and 
to  enable  him  to  live  on  the  labor  of  others,  be- 


62  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

comes  constantly  larger.  The  sum  which  fifty 
years  ago  was  a  considerable  fortune  is  today  an 
insignificant  pittance. 

The  decline  of  profit  and  interest  does  not 
bring  on  the  downfall,  but  the  narrowing  of  the 
capitalist  class.  Every  year  small  capitaHsts  are 
expelled  from  it  and  consigned  to  the  same  death- 
struggle  in  which  the  small  dealer,  the  small  pro- 
ducer, the  small  farmer,  the  small  concerns  gen- 
erally, are  engaged — a  death-struggle  that  may  be 
more  or  less  protracted,  but  which  will  finally  end 
for  them,  or  for  their  children,  with  downfall 
into  the  proletariat.  Their  efiforts  to  escape  their 
fate  only  hasten  their  ruin. 

One  often  wonders  at  the  large  number  of 
simpletons  whom  any  knave  can  allure  to  intrust 
him  with  their  money  upon  the  promise  of  high 
interest.  Those  people  are,  as  a  rule,  not  the 
fools  they  seem ;  fraudulent  undertakings  are  the 
last  straws  at  which  sinking  capitalists  grasp^  in 
the  desperate  hope  of  making  their  small  capital 
remunerative.  It  is  not  so  much  greed  as  the 
fear  of  poverty  that  blinds  them. 

7.    The   Growth  of  Large   Production.     Syndicates 
and  Trusts. 

Side  by  side  with  the  competitive  struggle  be- 
tween individual  and  capitalist  production  rages 
the  competitive  struggle  between  large  and  small 
capitalists.  Every  day  brings  forth  a  new  in- 
vention or  a  new  discovery  which  increases  the 
productivity  of  labor.  Each  of  these  renders  use- 
less, to  a  smaller  or  greater  extent,  former  ma- 
chines, and  compels  the  introduction  of  new  ones, 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  63 

often  also  the  enlargement  of  establishments. 
The  capitalist,  who,  at  such  a  pinch,  has  not  the 
requisite  capital  at  his  command,  becomes,  sooner 
or  later,  unable  to  hold  his  own  in  the  competitive 
struggle  and  goes  down,  or  is  forced,  at  consider- 
able loss,  to  invest  his  capital  in  some  smaller  in- 
dustry not  yet  seized  upon  by  more  powerful  cap- 
italists than  himsel-f.  In  this  way  competition  in 
large  industry  causes  over-stocking  of  capital  in 
small  industry,  and  thereby  renders  the  competi- 
tion between  the  small  capitalists  all  the  more 
fierce  and  their  ruin  all  the  more  rapid. 

The  industries  conducted  on  a  large  scale  con- 
stantly expand.  Establishments  that  once  counted 
their  workmen  by  hundreds  become  giant  con- 
cerns that  employ  thousands  of  hands.  Day  by 
day  the  small  business  establishments  disappear ; 
the  industrial  development,  instead  of  increasing, 
steadily  decreases  the  number  of  individual  en- 
terprises. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  industrial  development 
leads  steadily  to  the  concentration  of  more  and 
more  capitalist  undertakings  into  a  single  hand, 
be  that  the  hand  of  a  single  capitalist,  or  of  a 
combination  of  capitalists  who  legally  constitute 
one  person — the  syndicate,  the  trust. 

The  paths  that  lead  to  this  are  manifold. 

One  of  them  is  opened  by  the  anxiety  of  the 
capitalist  to  exclude  competition.  Competition 
has  been  shown  to  be  the  mainspring  of  the  mod- 
ern system  of  production ;  indeed,  it  is  the  main- 
spring of  all  production  of  merchandise,  i.  e., 
production  for  sale.  Nevertheless,  however  nec- 
essary competition  is  for  the  production  of  mer- 


64  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

chandise  in  general,  there  is  no  capitalist  but  is 
anxious  to  see  his  own  goods  free  from  competi- 
tion in  the  market.  If  he  is  the  sole  possessor  of 
goods  for  which  there  is  a  demand,  if  he  has  a 
monopoly  of  them,  he  can  send  their  pricees  far 
above  their  actual  value;  then  those  who  need 
his  goods  will  be  wholly  dependent  upon  him. 
Where  several  sellers  of  the  same  goods  appear 
in  the  market,  they  can  establish  a  monopoly  only 
by  combining  in  such  a  way  that  they  virtually 
become  one  seller.  Such  combines — rings,  syndi- 
dicates,  trusts — are  the  sooner  and  more  easily 
brought  about  the  smaller  the  number  of  compet- 
itors whose  conflicting  interests  are  to  be  har- 
monized. 

In  so  far  as  the  capitalist  system  expands  the 
market  and  increases  the  number  of  competitors 
in  it,  it  makes  difficult  the  formation  of  monopo- 
lies in  production  and  commerce.  But  in  every 
branch  of  capitalist  industry  the  moment  ar- 
rives, sooner  or  later,  when  its  further  develop- 
ment implies  the  lessening  of  the  number  of  es- 
tablishments engaged  in  it.  From  that  moment 
on  the  march  is  rapid  toward  the  syndicate  and 
the  trust.  The  time  when,  in  a  given  country,  the 
syndicate  can  ripen  into  a  trust  may  be  hastened 
through  the  protection  of  its  domestic  market 
against  foreign  competitors  by  a  high  tariff.  In 
such  a  case  the  number  of  competitors  is  dimin- 
ished and  the  domestic  producers  can  more  easily 
come  together,  establish  a  monopoly,  and,  thanks 
to  "Protection  of  home  industry,"  fleece  the  na- 
tional consumer  to  their  hearts'  content. 

During  the  last  twenty  years  the  number  of 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  65 

tnists,  through  which  the  price  and  production  of 
certain  wares  is  "regulated,"  has  increased 
greatly,  especially  in  "protected"  countries,  such 
as  the  United  States,  France  and  Germany.  The 
trust,  once  formed,  the  several  concerns  that  have 
combined  constitute  virtually  only  one  concern, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  single  head. 

The  articles  most  necessary  for  the  develop- 
ment of  production,  such  as  coal  and  iron,  are 
the  ones  that  become  the  first  subjects  of  syndi- 
cates and  trusts.  Combinations  usually  extend 
their  influence  far  beyond  the  monopolized  indus- 
tries themselves ;  they  render  the  whole  machin- 
ery of  production  dependent  upon  a  few  monop- 
olists. 

Simultaneously  with  the  effort  to  bring  to- 
gether the  several  establishments  of  one  indus- 
try into  a  single  hand,  there  also  develops  the 
effort  of  the  several  establishments  engaged  in 
different  branches  of  industry,  but  one  of  which 
furnishes  either  the  raw  material  or  the  ma- 
chinery needed  by  the  others,  to  unite  under  one 
management.  It  is  a  common  thuig  to  see  rail- 
road lines  owning  their  own  coal  mines  and  loco- 
motive works;  sugar  manufacturers  raise  a  part 
of  their  own  cane  or  beets ;  the  producer  of  pota- 
toes establish  his  own  whisky  distillery,  etc. 

There  is  still  a  third  way,  and  that  the  sim- 
olest,  by  which  several  establishments  are  merged 
into  one. 

We  have  seen  how  important  are  the  functions 
of  the  capitalist  under  the  present  system  of  pro- 
duction ;  under  the  system  of  private  property  in 
the  means  of  production,  large  production  is  pes- 


66  THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE 

stble  only  as  capitalist  production.  Under  this 
system  it  is  necessary,  in  order  that  production 
may  be  carried  on  smoothly,  that  the  capitalist 
take  the  field  with  his  capital  and  apply  it  effect- 
ively. 

At  the  same  time,  the  larger  a  capitalist  under- 
taking becomes,  the  more  necessary  it  is  for  the 
capitalist  to  relieve  himself  of  a  part  of  his  in- 
creasing duties,  either  by  passing  them  over  to 
other  capitalist  concerns,  or  to  some  employe 
whom  he  engages  to  attend  to  his  business.  Of 
coures,  it  makes  no  difference  in  the  industrial 
process  whether  these  functions  are  performed 
by  an  employe  or  by  the  capitalist  himself ;  these 
functions  produce  no  value  when  performed  by 
the  capitalist  and  they  produce  no  value  when 
performed  by  the  employe.  The  capitalist,  con- 
sequently, must  now  pay  for  them  out  of  his  sur- 
plus. This  is  another  means  by  which  the  sur- 
plus of  the  capitalist,  and  accordingly  his  profits, 
are  lowered. 

While  the  growth  of  an  enterprise  forces  the 
capitalist  to  relieve  himself  by  the  employment 
of  lieutenants,  it,  at  the  same  time,  through  the 
increasing  surplus  it  yields,  reduces  the  expense 
of  the  change.  The  larger  the  surplus,  the  more 
functions  can  the  capitalist  transfer  to  his  em- 
ployes, until  finally  he  relieves  himself  of  all  his 
functions;  so  that  there  remains  to  him  only  the 
care  as  to  how  to  invest  profitably  that  portion 
of  his  profits  that  he  does  not  need  for  personal 
consumption. 

The  number  of  concerns  in  which  this  final 
stage  has  been  reached  grows  from  year  to  year. 


•  THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  6? 

This  is  shown  clearly  by  the  increase  of  stock 
companies,  in  which  even  the  dullest  intellect  can 
see  that  the  person  of  the  capitalist  cuts  no  figure, 
and  the  only  thing  of  importance  is  his  capital. 

Some  have  imagined  that  they  saw  in  the  rise 
of  stock  companies  a  means  whereby  to  render 
accessible  to  the  small  holders  the  benefits  of 
large  production.  But  the  stock  company,  like 
credit,  of  which  it  is  only  a  special  form,  is 
rather  a  means  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  the 
large  capitalist  the  property  of  the  small  hold- 
ers. 

Just  as  soon  as  a  branch  of  industry  can  dis- 
pense with  the  person  of  the  capitalist,  everyone 
can  engage  in  it,  whether  or  not  he  knows  any- 
thing of  the  business,  provided  only  he  possesses 
the  necessary  funds  to  buy  stock.  Owing  to  this 
fact  a  capitalist  is  able  to  unite  in  his  own  hands 
industries  that  are  wholly  disconnected.  Stock 
companies  are  easily  acquired  by  a  large  capital- 
ist; all  he  needs  to  do  is  to  secure  possession  of 
the  majority  of  the  stock,  and  the  concern  be- 
comes dependent  upon  him  and  subject  to  his 
interests. 

Finally,  it  must  be  observed  that  large  masses 
of  capital  grow  faster  than  the  small  ones,  for 
the  larger  the  capital,  the  larger,  also,  other 
things  being  equal,  will  be  the  profits,  the  smallei 
proportionately  will  be  the  quantity  which  the 
capitalist  will  consume  personally,  and  the  larger 
the  portion  which  he  can  add  to  his  previous  in- 
vestments as  fresh  capital.  The  capitalist  whose 
business  yields  him  a  yearly  income  of  $10,000 
will  be  able  to  live  but  modestly  according  to  cap- 


68  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

italist  ideas.  On  the  other  hand,  the  capitalist 
whose  business  is  large  enough  to  yield  him 
$100,000  annually,  may,  even  though  he  were  to 
spend  upon  himself  five  times  as  much  as  the 
previous  one,  add  annually  $60,000,  i.  e.,  three- 
fifths  of  his  profits,  to  his  previous  capital.  While 
the  small  capitalists  are  compelled  to  struggle 
harder  and  harder  for  their  existence,  the  large 
accumulations  in  the  hands  of  the  large  capitalists 
swell  faster  and  faster  and  within  a  short  time 
reach  immense  proportions. 

To  summarize:  The  growth  of  large  estab- 
lishments, the  rapid  increase  of  large  fortunes, 
the  steady  decrease  in  the  number  of  establish- 
ments, the  steady  concentration  of  different  con- 
cerns in  one  hand, — all  these  make  it  evident  that 
the  tendency  of  the  capitalist  system  of  produc- 
tion is  to  concentrate  in  the  hands  of  an  ever 
smaller  number  the  instruments  of  production, 
which  have  become  the  monopoly  of  the  capital- 
ist class.  The  final  result  must  be  the  concentra- 
tion of  all  the  instruments  of  production  in  the 
hands  of  one  person  or  one  stock  company,  to 
be  used  as  private  property  and  be  disposed  of  at 
will ;  the  whole  machinery  of  production  will 
be  turned  into  a  gigantic  concern  subject  to  a 
single  master.  The  private  ownership  of  the 
means  of  production  leads,  under  the  capitalist 
system,  to  its  own  destruction !  Its  development 
takes  the  ground  from  under  itself.  The  moment 
the  wage-workers  constitute  the  bulk  of  the  con- 
sumers, the  products  in  which  the  surplus  lies 
locked  up  become  unsalable,  that  is,  valueless. 

In  point  of  fact,  a  state  of  things  such  as  her« 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  69 

outlined  would  be  as  preposterous  as  it  would  be 
impossible.  It  will  not,  and  cannot,  come  to  that. 
The  mere  approach  to  such  conditions  would  in- 
crease to  such  an  extent  the  sufferings,  antag- 
onisms and  contradictions  in  society,  that  they 
would  become  unbearable  and  society  would  fall 
to  pieces,  even  if  a  different  turn  were  not  previ- 
ously given  to  the  development.  But  although 
such  a  condition  of  things  will  never  be  com- 
pletely reached,  we  are  rapidly  steering  in  that 
direction.  At  the  same  time  that,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  concentration  of  separate  capitaUst  un- 
dertakings in  few  hands  is  progressing  rapidly, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  interdependence  of  seem- 
ingly independent  concerns  increases  as  the  inev- 
itable result  of  the  division  of  labor.  This  mutual 
dependence  becomes,  however,  constantly  more 
one-sided,  for  the  small  capitalists  grow  ever 
more  dependent  on  the  big  ones.  Just  as  most  of 
those  workers  who  are  now  engaged  in  home 
industries  and  who  seem  to  be  independent  are  in 
fact  wage-workers  under  some  capitalist,  so  also 
is  many  a  small  capitalist  who  apparently  enjoys 
independence  tributary  to  other  capitalists,  and 
many  a  seemingly  independent  capitalist  concern 
is,  in  fact,  but  an  appendage  of  some  gigantic 
capitalist  establishment. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  economic  dependence 
of  the  bulk  of  our  population  upon  the  capitalist 
class  is  on  the  increase,  there  is  also  an  increasing 
dependence  within  the  capitalist  class  itself  of  a 
majority  of  its  members  upon  a  small  set  whose 
numbers  become  smaller,  but  whose  power,  be- 
c^mi*  of  their  wealth,  becomes  greater. 


70  THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE 

But  dependence  brings  no  more  security  to  the 
capitalist  than  to  the  proletarians,  the  small  trad- 
ers ancf  producers.  On  the  contrary,  it  means  to 
him  what  it  does  to  all  the  others;  with  his  de- 
pendence increases  also  the  uncertainty  of  his  sit- 
uation. The  smaller  capitalists,  of  course,  suffer 
most,  but  even  the  largest  accumulations  of  cap' 
ital  afford  no  absolute  certainty. 

Some  of  the  causes  of  the  increasing  insecurity 
of  capitalist  undertakings  we  have  already 
touched  upon.  One  of  these,  the  sensitiveness  of 
the  whole  system  to  outward  influences,  is  on  the 
increase.  In  proportion  as  it  draws  sharper  the 
antagonism  between  the  classes ;  in  proportion 
as  it  swells  more  and  more  the  masses  it  arraigns 
against  each  other;  in  proportion  as  it  places  in 
the  hands  of  each  increasingly  powerful  weapons ; 
the  capitalist  system  of  production  multiplies  the 
occasions  for  disturbances  and  increases  the  dam- 
ages which  these  disturbances  bring  about.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  not  only  the  surplus  withheld  by 
the  capitalist  that  the  growing  productivity  of 
labor  increases ;  it  increases  also  the  quantity  of 
goods  that  are  thrown  upon  the  market.  Along 
with  the  exploitation  of  labor  grows  the  competi- 
tion among  capitalists,  which  becomes  a  bit- 
ter contest  of  each  against  all.  Together  with 
this  goes  a  steady  revolution  in  the  technical 
methdds  of  production.  New  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries are  incessantly  made  which  render  value- 
less existing  machinery  and  make  superfluous,  not 
only  individual  workers,  not  only  individual  ma- 
chines, but  often  whole  establishments  or  even 
whole  branches  of  indu.'itry. 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  7] 

No  capitalist  can  depend  on  the  future;  nont 
can  say  with  certainty  whether  he  will  be  ablu 
to  keep  what  he  has  and  to  leave  it  to  his  chil> 
dren. 

The  capitalist  class  itself  is  splitting  up  into 
two  sets.  The  one,  which  increases  steadily,  is 
superfluous  to  industrial  life ;  it  has  nothing  to  do 
but  squander  the  growing  quantity  of  surplus 
which  flows  into  its  hands.  The  other  set,  which 
consists  of  those  who  have  not  yet  become  super- 
fluous in  their  establishments,  decreases  steadily, 
but  in  proportion  to  this  decrease  the  cares  and 
burdens  of  their  situation  grow  heavier  upon 
them.  While  the  former  set  is  degenerating  in 
wasteful  idleness,  the  latter  is  wearing  itself  out 
in  the  competitive  struggle. 

To  both  the  specter  of  uncertainty  is  a  grow- 
ing menace.  The  modern  system  of  production 
does  not  allow  even  the  exploiters,  even  those 
who  monopolize  all  its  tremendous  advantages,  to 
enjoy  their  booty  to  the  full. 

8.    Industrial  Crises. 

Great  as  is  the  uncertainty  for  all  classes  under 
our  usual  conditions,  it  is  further  increased  by 
the  crises  which  are  periodically  brought  on, 
with  the  certainty  of  natural  law,  the  moment 
production  reaches  a  certain  stage. 

The  importance  which  these  crises  have  as- 
.sumed  during  the  last  decades  and  the  general 
confusion  of  thought  that  prevails  concerning 
rhem  justifies  special  attention. 

The  great  modern  crises  which  convulse  the 
world's     markets     arise     from     overproduction, 


72  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLfe 

which,  in  its  turn,  arises  from  th<;  juuviieainess 
that  inevitably  characterizes  our  system  oi'  com- 
modity production.  Overpi'oauction,  in  the  sense 
of  more  being  produced  than  is  actually  needed, 
may  occur  under  any  system.  But  it  could,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  cause  no  injury  so  long  as  the 
producers  produce  for  the  satisfaction  of  their 
own  wants.  If,  for  instance,  in  the  generation 
gone  by,  a  farmer's  crop  of  grain  happened  to 
be  larger  than  he  needed,  he  stored  up  the  grain 
against  poorer  years,  and  when  his  barn  was  full, 
he  would  feed  his  cattle  with  the  residue,  or,  at 
worst,  let  it  lie  and  spoil. 

It  is  otherwise  with  the  modern  system  of  com- 
modity production.  In  the  first  place,  when  the 
system  is  once  well-developed,  no  one  produces 
for  himself,  but  for  semeone  else ;  everyone  must 
buy  what  he  needs.  Moreover,  the  total  produc- 
tion of  society  is  not  carried  on  in  a  systematic 
way;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  left  to  each  producer 
to  estimate  for  himself  the  demand  there  may 
be  for  the  goods  which  he  produces.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  just  as  soon  as  the  modern  system  of 
production  has  outgrown  its  first  stage,  no  one 
except  the  producer  of  coinable  metals  can  buy 
before  he  has  sold.  These  are  the  two  roots  out 
of  which  grows  the  crisis. 

For  the  illustration  of  this  fact  let  the  sim- 
plest example  serve.  At  a  market-place  let  there 
come  together  an  owner  of  money,  say  a  gold- 
digger  with  twenty  dollars  in  gold,  a  wine-mer- 
chant with  a  cask  of  wine,  a  weaver  with  a  bale 
of  cloth,  and  a  miller  with  a  sack  of  flour.  To 
simplify  the  case,  let  the  value  of  each  of  these 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  73 

poods  be  equal  to  twenty  dollars,  and  let  it  be 
assumed  that  each  has  correctly  estimated  the 
needs  of  the  other.  The  wine-merchant  sells  his 
wine  to  the  gold-digger,  and  with  the  twenty  dol- 
lars he  receives  for  it  purchases  the  cloth  in  the 
hands  of  the  weaver;  and,  lastly,  the  weaver  in- 
vests the  proceeds  of  his  cloth  in  the  purchase  of 
the  sack  of  meal.    Each  will  go  home  satisfied. 

Next  year  these  four  meet  again,  each  calculat- 
ing upon  the  same  demand  for  his  goods  as  be- 
fore. Let  it  be  assumed  that  the  gold-digger  does 
not  despise  the  merchant's  wine,  but  that  the 
wine-merchant  either  has  no  need  of  the  cloth, 
or  requires  the  money  to  pay  a  debt,  and  prefers 
wearing  a  torn  shirt  to  purchasing  new  material. 
In  that  case  the  wine-merchant  keeps  in  his 
pocket  the  twenty  dollars  and  goes  home.  In 
vain  does  the  weaver  wait  for  a  customer,  and 
for  the  same  reason  that  he  waits,  the  miller  is 
also  disappointed.  The  weaver's  family  may  be 
hungry,  he  may  crave  the  flour  in  the  miller's 
hands,  but  he  has  produced  cloth  for  which  there 
is  no  demand,  and  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
cloth  has  become  superfluous,  the  flour  also  is 
rendered  "superfluous."  Neither  the  weaver  nor 
the  miller  has  any  money,  neither  can  purchase 
what  he  wants ;  what  they  have  produced  now 
appears  as  excessive  production.  Furthemore, 
the  same  is  the  case  with  all  other  goods  which 
have  been  produced  for  their  use  and  which  they 
stand  in  need  of ;  to  carry  the  illustration  a  little 
further,  the  table  produced  by  the  joiner  and 
needed  by  the  miller  is  "overproduced." 

The  essential  features  of  an  industrial  crisis 


74  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

are  all  present  in  this  illustration.  Of  course,  in 
reality,  the  crisis  does  not  manifest  itself  at  such 
a  primitive  stage  of  production.  At  the  first 
stage  of  production  of  merchandise,  production 
for  sale,  every  producer  produces  more  or  16ss 
for  self-consumption;  production  for  sale  consti- 
tutes in  each  family  but  a  part  of  its  total  in- 
dustry. The  weaver  and  the  miller  of  the  illus- 
tration given  above  are  each  possessed  of  a 
patch  of  land  and  some  cattle,  and  they  can  wait 
patiently  until  a  purchaser  for  their  commodities 
turns  up.  If  the  worst  came  to  the  worst,  they 
could  even  manage  to  live  without  him. 

Furthermore,  in  the  first  stages  of  production 
for  sale  the  market  is  still  small,  it  can  easily  be 
estimated ;  year  in  and  year  out,  production  and 
consumption,  the  whole  social  life  of  a  commun- 
ity, keep  on  the  even  tenor  of  their  way.  In  the 
small  settlements  of  the  past  everyone  knew 
everybody  and  was  well-informed  as  to  his  wants 
and  his  purchasing  capacity.  The  industrial  activ- 
ity of  such  places  remained  substantially  the  same 
from  year  to  year;  the  number  of  producers,  the 
productivity  of  labor,  the  quantity  of  products, 
the  number  of  consumers,  their  wants,  the  money 
at  their  disposal — all  of  these  changed  but  slowly, 
and  each  change  was  promptly  observed  and 
taken  into  consideration. 

All  this  takes  on  a  different  aspect  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  commerce.  Under  its  influence  pro- 
duction for  self-consumption  is  crowded  ever 
more  to  the  rear;  the  individual  producers  of 
the  goods  for  sale,  and  to  a  greater  extent  the 
dealers,  are  more  and  more  thrown  for  their  sup- 


THE  CAPITALIST   CLASS  75 

port  upon  the  sale  of  their  goods,  and,  what  is 
more  important,  upon  their  prompt  sale.  The 
prevention  of  the  sale  of  a  commodity,  or  even  a 
delay  in  the  sale,  becomes  ever  more  disastrous 
to  the  owner ;  it  may  even  cause  his  ruin. 

Through  commerce  the  most  various  and 
widely  separated  markets  are  brought  together; 
the  general  market  is  greatly  extended,  but  it  be- 
comes correspondingly  more  difficult  to  control. 
This  inconvenience  is  further  increased  by  the 
appearance  of  one  or  more  middlemen  who 
squeeze  themselves  between  the  producers  rad 
consumers.  Simultaneously  with  the  develop- 
ment of  trade  and  the  means  of  communication 
the  transportation  of  products  has  been  facili- 
tated ;  the  slightest  cause  is  sufficient  to  bring  them 
together  in  great  quantities  at  any  point.  All 
these  causes  combined  render  more  and  more 
uncertain  the  work  of  estimating  the  demand  for, 
and  supply  of,  commodities.  The  development 
of  statistics  does  not  remove  this  uncertainty. 
The  whole  economic  life  of  society  becomes  con- 
stantly more  dependent  upon  mercantile  specula- 
tion, and  the  latter  becomes  ever  more  risky. 

The  merchant  is  a  speculator  from  the  start. 
Speculation  was  not  invented  at  the  exchange ;  it 
is  a  necessary  function  of  the  capitalist.  By  spec- 
ulating, that  is,  by  estimating  in  advance  the  de- 
mand for  a  commodity;  by  buying  his  goods 
where  he  can  get  them  cheap,  that  is,  where  their 
supply  is  excessive ;  by  selling  them  where  they 
are  dear,  that  is,  where  they  are  scarce,  the  mer- 
chant helps  to  bring  some  order  into  the  chaos  of 
the  planless  system  of  production  that  is  carried 


76  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

on  by  individually  independent  concerns.  But  he 
is  liable  to  err  in  his  calculations,  and  all  the 
more  as  he  is  not  allowed  much  time  to  consider 
his  ventures.  He  is  not  the  only  merchant  in  the 
world ;  hundreds  and  thousands  of  competitors  lie 
in  wait  to  profit  by  every  favorable  opportunity ; 
whoever  first  espies  it  carries  off  the  prize. 
Under  such  circumstances  quickness  is  a  neces- 
sity; it  will  not  do  to  reflect  long,  to  inquire 
much ;  the  capitalist  must  venture.  Yet  he  may 
lose.  So  soon  as  there  is  a  great  demand  for  a 
commodity  in  any  market,  it  flows  thither  in  large 
quantities  until  it  exceeds  the  digestive  powers  of 
the  market.  Then  prices  tumble ;  the  merchant 
must  sell  cheap,  often  at  a  loss,  or  seek  another 
market  with  his  goods.  His  losses  in  this  opera- 
tion may  be  large  enough  to  ruin  him. 

Wherever  the  modern  system  of  production  for 
sale  is  well  developed,  any  given  market  is  either 
excessively  or  inadequately  supplied.  This  may 
lead  to  the  result  that  in  response  to  some  ex- 
traordinary cause,  the  overstocking  of  the  market 
becomes  so  excessive  that  the  losses  of  the  mer- 
chants may  be  unusually  heavy  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  them  become  unable  to  meet  their  liabili- 
ties ;  that  is.  they  fail.  Under  such  circumstances 
we  have  a  first-class  commercial  crisis. 

So  long  as  small  production  was  the  leading 
form  of  industry,  the  extent  and  intensity  of  com- 
mercial crises  could  not  but  be  limited.  What- 
ever the  call,  it  was  not  then  possible  to  increase 
rapidly  the  total  amount  of  commodities  at  any 
one  place.  Under  the  regime  of  hand-work  or 
small  industry,  production  is  not  capable  of  any 


THE  CAPITALIST   CLASS  17 

considerable  extension.  It  cannot  be  extended 
by  the  employment  of  a  larger  number  of  work- 
men, for,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  it  em- 
ploys all  the  members  of  a  community  that  are 
at  its  disposal.  It  can  be  extended  only  by  mak- 
ing heavier  the  burden  of  toil  borne  by  the 
worker — lengthening  his  hours  of  work,  depriv- 
ing him  of  holidays,  etc. ;  but  in  the  good  old  days 
the  independent  mechanic  and  farmer,  who  were 
not  yet  crowded  by  the  competition  of  large  pro- 
duction, had  no  inclination  for  this.  Finally,  even 
if  they  submitted  to  such  imposition,  it  made  little 
difference  to  production,  for  the  productivity  of 
labor  was  comparatively  small. 

This  changes  with  the  rise  of  capitalist  large 
production.  This  system  not  only  develops  all 
the  means  that  enable  commerce  to  swamp  any 
market  with  goods  to  a  degree  never  dreamt  of 
before,  it  not  only  expands  the  separate  markets 
into  a  world-market  that  embraces  the  whole 
globe,  it  not  only  multiplies  the  number  of  the 
middlemen  between  the  producer  and  the  con- 
sumer, it  also  enables  production  to  respond  to 
every  call  of  trade  and  to  extend  by  leaps  and 
bounds. 

At  present,  the  very  fact  that  the  workmen  are 
wholly  subject  to  the  capitalist — that  he  can,  vir- 
tually at  will,  lengthen  their  hours  of  work,  sus- 
pend their  Sundays,  limit  their  night  rest — ar^ 
ables  him  to  increase  production  at  a  more  rapi^ 
pace  than  was  formerly  possible.  Furthermore, 
today  one  single  hour  of  overwork  means,  with 
the  present  productivity  of  labor,  an  increase  of 
production  immensely  larger  than  in  the  days  o£ 


78  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

handicraft.  Thanks  to  credit,  capital  has  become 
a  very  elastic  quantity.  A  brisk  trade  increases 
confidence,  draws  money  out  upon  the  street, 
shortens  the  time  requisite  for  the  turning  over 
of  capital  and,  accordingly,  increases  its  effective- 
ness. But  most  important  of  all,  capital  has  per- 
manently at  its  disposal  a  large  reserve  army  of 
workmen — the  unemployed.  The  capitp.list  is 
thus  able  at  any  time  to  expand  his  eLtabhsh- 
ment,  to  employ  additional  workmen,  to  licrease 
his  production  rapidly  and  to  profit  to  the  utmost 
by  every  favorable  opportunity. 

It  has  been  shown  that  under  the  rule  of  large 
production  industrial  capital  steps  ever  more  to 
the  front  and  takes  control  of  the  whole  capital- 
ist mechanism.  But  within  the  circle  of  capitalist 
production  itself  special  branches  of  industry 
take  the  lead,  as  for  instance,  the  iron  and  spin- 
ning industries.  The  moment  any  of  these  re- 
ceives a  special  impetus — be  it  through  the  open- 
ing of  new  markets  in  China,  or  the  undertaking 
of  extensive  railroad  lines — not  only  does  it  ex- 
pand rapidly,  but  it  imparts  the  impetus  it  has 
received  to  the  whole  industrial  organism.  Cap- 
italists enlarge  their  establishments,  start  new 
ones,  increase  the  consumption  of  raw  and  auxil- 
iary materials  and  employ  new  hands ;  simul- 
taneously with  all  this,  rent,  profit  and  wages 
go  up.  The  demand  for  goods  increases,  all  in- 
dustries begin  to  feel  the  industrial  prosperity. 
At  such  times  it  looks  as  if  every  undertaking 
must  prosper ;  confidence  becomes  blind,  credit 
grows  boundless.  Whoever  has  money  seeks  to 
turn  it  into  capital  to  make  it  profitable.  Indus- 
trial giddiness  takes  possession  of  all. 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  79 

In  the  meantime,  production  has  greatly  in- 
creased and  the  originally  increased  demand  upon 
the  market  has  been  satisfied.  Nevertheless,  pro- 
duction does  not  stop.  One  producer  does  not 
know  what  the  other  is  about,  and  even  if,  in  a 
lucid  interval,  misgivings  may  arise  in  the  mind 
of  some  capitalist,  they  are  soon  smothered  by 
the  necessity  of  profiting  by  the  opportunity  in 
order  not  to  be  left  behind  in  the  competitive  race. 
"The  devil  takes  the  hindmost."  In  the  mean- 
time, the  disposal  of  the  increased  quantity  of 
goods  becomes  ever  more  difficult,  the  warehouses 
fill  up.  Yet  the  hurly-burly  goes  on.  Then  comes 
the  moment  when  one  of  the  mercantile  establish- 
ments must  pay  for  the  goods  received  from  the 
manufacturer  months  before.  The  goods  are  yet 
unsold ;  the  debtor  has  the  goods,  but  no  money ; 
he  cannot  meet  his  obligations  and  fails.  Next 
comes  the  turn  of  the  manufacturer.  He  also  has 
contracted  debts  that  fall  due ;  as  his  debtor  can- 
not pay  him,  he,  too,  is  ruined.  Thus  one  bank- 
ruptcy follows  another  until  a  general  collapse 
ensues.  The  recent  blind  confidence  turns  into 
an  equally  blind  fear,  the  panic  grows  general, 
and  the  crash  comes. 

At  such  times  the  whole  industrial  mechanism 
is  shaken  to  its  very  center;  every  establishment 
that  is  not  planted  upon  the  firmest  ground  goes 
to  pieces.  Misfortune  overtakes  not  the  fraudu- 
lent concerns  alone,  but  all  those  which  in  ordi- 
nary times  just  managed  to  keep  their  heads 
above  water.  At  such  times  the  expropriation  of 
the  small  farmers,  small  producers,  small  dealers 
and  :<mall  capitalists  go&s  on  rapidly.    As  a  mat- 


80  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

ter  of  course,  those  among  the  large  capitaUsts 
who  survive  get  a  rich  booty.  For  during  a  crisis 
two  important  things  take  place :  first,  the  expro- 
priation of  the  "small  fry" ;  second,  the  concen- 
tration of  production  into  fewer  hands,  and 
thereby  the  accumulation  of  large   fortunes. 

Few,  if  any,  can  tell  whether  they  will  survive 
the  crisis.  All  the  horrors  of  the  modern  system 
of  production,  the  uncertainty  of  a  livelihood, 
want,  prostitution  and  crime,  reach  at  such  times 
alarming  proportions.  Thousands  perish  from 
cold  and  hunger  because  they  have  produced  too 
much  clothing,  too  much  food,  and  too  many 
houses!  It  is  at  such  seasons  that  the  fact  be- 
comes most  glaring  that  the  modern  productive 
powers  are  becoming  more  and  more  irreconcila- 
ble with  the  system  of  production  for  sale,  and 
that  private  ownership  in  the  means  of  produc- 
tion is  growing  into  a  greater  and  greater  curse — 
first,  for  the  class  of  the  propertyless,  and  then 
for  that  of  the  property  holders  themselves. 

Some  political  economists  have  declared  that 
the  trust  would  do  away  with  the  crisis.  This  is 
false. 

The  regulation  of  production  by  large  syndi- 
cates or  trusts  presupposes  above  all  things  their 
control  of  all  branches  of  mdustry  and  the  or- 
ganization of  these  upon  an  international  basis 
in  all  countries  over  which  the  capitalist  system 
of  production  extends.  But  international  trusts 
are  difficult  to  organize  and  more  difficult  to  hold 
together;  so  it  is  seldom  that  a  trust  becomes 
powerful  enough  to  regulate  international  trade 
and  avert  a  crisis.     With  regard  to  overproduc- 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  81 

tion,  the  principal  mission  of  the  trust  is  not  to 
check  it,  but  to  shift  its  evil  consequences  from 
the  shoulders  of  capitalists  upon  those  of  work- 
men and  consumers. 

But  let  it  be  assumed  that  eventually  the  lead- 
ing industries  have  been  successfully  organized 
into  well-disciplined,  international  trusts.  What 
would  be  the  result?  Competition  among  capi- 
talists would  be  removed  in  one  direction  only. 
The  more  completely  competition  disappears 
among  the  producers  in  one  branch  of  industry, 
the  greater  becomes  the  antagonism  between  them 
and  the  producers  of  other  commodities,  who,  as 
consumers,  need  the  products  of  the  trust,  in 
short,  complete  international  trustification  would 
cause  the  capitalist  class  to  be  divided  no  longer 
into  competing  individuals,  but  into  hostile  groups, 
who  would  wage  war  to  the  knife  against  one 
another.* 

Only  when  all  trusts  are  joined  into  one  and 
the  whole  machinery  of  production  of  all  capital- 
ist nations  is  concentrated  in  a  few  hands,  that  is, 
when  private  property  in  the  means  of  produc- 
tion has  virtually  come  to  an  end,  can  the  trust 
abolish  the  crisis.  On  the  contrary,  from  a  cer- 
tain stage  on  in  industrial  development,  the  crisis 
is  inevitable  so  long  as  private  property  in  the 
means  of  production  continues. 

9.     Chronic  Overproduction. 

Along  with  the  periodical  crises  and  their  per- 
manent manifestations,  along  with  the  recurring 

*Note. — In  America  this  stage  of  growth  in  the  develop- 
ment of  trusts  has  been  readied  in  many  industries  or  groups 
of  industries. — Translator. 


82  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

periods  of  overproduction  and  their  accompani- 
ments of  loss  of  wealth  and  waste  of  force, 
there  develops  chronic  overproduction  and  waste 
of  energy. 

The  revolution  in  the  machinery  of  production 
goes  on  uninterrupted;  the  fields  that  it  invades 
are  ever  more  numerous.  Year  after  year  new 
branches  of  industry  are  captured  by  capitalist 
large  production,  and,  consequently,  the  produc- 
tivity of  labor  grows  incessantly,  and  at  an  ever 
increasing  rate.  Simultaneously  with  this  the  ac- 
cumulation of  new  capital  proceeds  without  in- 
terruption. The  intenser  the  exploitation  of  the 
single  laborer  and  the  larger  the  number  of  the 
exploited  laborers,  the  larger  also  grows  the 
quantity  of  the  surplus  and  the  mass  of  wealth 
that  the  capitalist  class  can  lay  by  and  apply  as 
capital.  The  capitalist  system,  therefore,  cannot 
remain  stationary;  its  constant  expansion  and 
the  constant  expansion  of  its  market  are  a  vital 
necessity  to  it ;  to  stand  still  is  death.  While  for- 
merly, in  the  days  of  handicraft  and  small  farm- 
ing, the  country  produced  year  in  and  year  out  a 
quantity  of  wealth,  which,  as  a  rule,  increased 
only  with  the  increase  of  the  population,  the  cap- 
italist system,  on  the  contrary,  is  from  the  start 
dependent  on  an  incessant  increase  of  production ; 
every  stoppage  indicates  a  social  malady  which 
grows  more  painful  the  longer  it  lasts.  Thus, 
together  with  the  periodical  incentives  to  in- 
crease of  production  brought  on  by  the  peri- 
odical extensions  of  the  market,  there  is  a  per- 
manent pressure  in  this  direction  inherent  in  the 
capitalist  system  of  production  itself.    This  pres- 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  83 

sure,  instead  of  being  brought  on  by  the  ex- 
tension of  the  market,  compels  the  latter  to  be 
pushed  constantly  further. 

But  there  is  a  limit  to  the  extension  of  the 
markets ;  there  have  been  periods  during  the  last 
thirty  years  when  it  has  not  gone  on.  True 
enough,  the  field  over  which  capitalist  produc- 
tion can  extend  itself  is  immense;  it  leaps  over 
all  local  and  national  boundaries,  it  has  the  whole 
globe  for  its  market.  But  capitalism  has  virtually 
reduced  the  size  of  the  globe.  Only  a  hundred 
years  ago  the  market  for  capitalist  industry  was 
limited  to  the  western  part  of  Europe  and  cer- 
tain coastlands  and  islands  almost  exclusively 
dominated  by  England.  But  such  was  the  vigor 
and  greed  of  the  capitalists  and  so  gigantic  were 
the  means  at  their  disposal,  that  since  then  almost 
all  countries  on  earth  have  been  forced  open, 
not  to  the  products  of  England  alone,  but  to  those 
of  all  capitalist  nations.  Today  there  are  hardly 
any  other  markets  to  be  opened,  except  those 
from  which  little  is  to  be  fetched  besides  fever 
and  blows. 

The  wonderful  development  of  transportation 
renders  from  year  to  year  a  completer  exploita- 
tion of  the  market  possible;  but  this  tendency  is 
counteracted  by  the  circumstance  that  the  mar- 
ket steadily  undergoes  a  change  in  those  very 
countries  whose  population  has  reached  a  certain 
degree  of  civilization.  Everywhere  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  goods  of  capitalist  large  production 
extinguishes  the  domestic  system  of  small  pro- 
duction and  transforms  the  industrial  and  agri- 
cultural  laborers   into   proletarians.     This   pro- 


84  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

duces  two  important  results  in  all  the  markets 
that  are  counted  upon  to  absorb  the  surplus  prod- 
ucts of  capitalist  industry:  first,  it  lowers  tha 
purchatsing  power  of  the  population  and  thereby 
counteracts  the  effect  of  the  extension  of  the 
market ;  and,  second,  and  more  important,  it  lays 
there  the  foundation  for  the  capitalist  system  of 
production  by  calling  into  existence  a  proletarian 
class.  Thus  capitalist  large  production  digs  its 
own  grave.  From  a  certain  point  onward  in  its 
development  every  new  extension  of  the  market 
means  the  rising  of  a  new  competitor.  At  pres- 
ent, capitalist  large  production  in  the  United 
States,  which  is  not  quite  a  generation  old.  is  en- 
gaged not  only  in  the  work  of  freeing  itself  from 
its  European  competitor,  but  in  an  endeavor  to 
seize  upon  the  market  of  the  whole  American 
continent.  The  still  more  youthful  capitalist  in- 
dustry of  Russia  has  started  in  to  be  the  sole 
purveyor  of  the  whole  extensive  territory  owned 
by  Russian  in  Europe  and  Asia.  The  East  In- 
dies, China,  Japan,  Australia  are  developing  into 
industrial  states  that  sooner  or  later  will  be  able 
to  supply  their  own  wants.  In  short,  the  moment 
is  drawing  near  when  the  markets  of  the  indus- 
trial countries  can  no  longer  be  extended  and 
will  begin  to  contract.  But  this  would  mean  the 
bankruptcy  of  the  whole  capitalist  system. 

For  some  time  past  the  extension  of  the  mar- 
ket has  not  kept  pace  with  the  requirements  of 
capitalist  production.  The  latter  is,  consequently, 
more  and  more  hampered  and  finds  it  increas- 
ingly difficult  to  develop  fully  the  productive 
powers  that  it  possesses.    The  intervals  of  pros- 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  85 

perity  become  ever  shorter;  the  length  of  the 
crises  ever  longer. 

Hence  the  quantity  of  the  means  of  production 
that  either  cannot  be  turned  to  sufficient  use  or  is 
forced  to  remain  wholly  unused,  is  on  the  in- 
crease; the  quantity  of  wealth  that  goes  to 
waste  is  greater  and  greater ;  the  quantity  of 
labor  power  compelled  to  lie  idle  is  ever  more  ap- 
palling. Under  this  last  head  belong  not  only 
the  swarms  of  unemployed  who  are  rapidly 
growing  into  a  threatening  social  danger;  under 
it  must  also  be  numbered,  first,  that  ever-increas- 
ing crew  of  social  parasites  who,  finding  all  ave- 
nues of  productive  work  closed  to  them,  try  to 
eke  out  a  miserable  existence  through  a  variety 
of  occupations,  most  of  which  are  wholly  super- 
fluous and  not  a  few  injurious  to  society — such 
as  middlemen,  saloonkeepers,  agents,  drummers, 
etc. ;  second,  that  stupendous  mass  of  humanity 
of  all  degrees  that  may  be  designated  as,  "the 
slums,"  such  as  the  cheats  and  swindlers  of  high 
and  low  grade,  the  criminals  and  prostitutes,  to- 
gether with  their  innumerable  dependents;  third, 
the  swarms  of  those  who  fasten  upon  the  possess- 
ing classes  in  the  capacity  of  personal  servants ; 
finally,  there  is  the  great  body  of  soldiers,  for 
the  steady  increase  of  armies  during  the  last 
twenty  years  would  not  have  been  possible  with- 
out the  overproduction  which  has  set  free  so 
large  a  part  of  the  world's  labor-power. 

The  capitalist  system  begins  to  suffocate  in  its 
own  surplus ;  it  becomes  constantly  less  able  to 
endure  the  full  unfolding  of  the  productive  pow- 
ers which  it  has  created.     Constantly  more  ere- 


86  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

ative  forces  must  be  idle,  ever  greater  quantities 
of  products  be  wasted,  if  it  is  not  to  go  to  pieces 
altogether. 

The  introduction  of  the  capitalist  system,  that 
is,  the  replacing  of  small  production,  under 
which  the  instruments  of  labor  were  the  prop- 
erty of  the  individual  workers,  with  capitalist 
large  production,  under  which  the  implements  of 
labor  became  the  private  property  of  a  few  in- 
dividuals and  workmen  were  turned  into  prop- 
ertyless  proletarians,  was  the  means  whereby  the 
productive  powers  of  labor  were  immensely  in- 
creased. To  do  this  was  the  historic  mission 
of  the  capitalist  class.  The  sufferings  inflicted 
upon  the  masses  of  human  beings  expropriated 
and  exploited  were  terrible,  but  it  fulfilled  its 
mission.  It  was  as  much  a  historic  necessity  as 
the  two  cornerstones  upon  which  it  rose ;  first, 
the  production  of  merchandise,  that  is,  produc- 
tion for  sale;  next,  the  private  ownership  of  the 
implements  of  labor. 

But  however  necessary  were  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem and  the  conditions  which  produced  it,  they 
are  no  longer  so.  The  functions  of  the  capi- 
talist class  devolve  ever  more  upon  paid  em- 
ployes. The  large  majority  of  the  capitalists 
have  now  nothing  to  do  but  consume  what  others 
produce.  The  capitalist  today  is  as  superfluous 
a  human  being  as  the  feudal  lord  had  become  a 
hundred  years  ago. 

Nay,  more.  Like  the  feudal  lord  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  the  capitalist  class  has  today  be- 
come a  hindrance  to  further  development.  Private 
ownership  in  the  implements  of  labor  has  long 


THE   CAPITALIST   CLASS  87 

ceased  to  secure  to  each  producer  the  product 
of  his  labor  and  to  guarantee  him  freedom. 
Today,  on  the  contrary,  society  is  rapidly  drift- 
ing to  the  point  where  the  whole  population  of 
capitalist  nations  will  be  deprived  of  both  prop- 
erty and  freedom.  What  was  once  a  foundation 
stone  of  society  has  become  a  means  of  tearing 
up  all  foundations :  instead  of  a  means  of  spur- 
ring society  on  to  the  highest  development  of 
its  productive  powers,  it  has  become  a  means  of 
compelling  society  more  and  more  to  waste  its 
powers  of  production.  So  private  property  in 
the  means  of  production  has  changed  from  what 
it  originally  was  into  its  opposite,  not  only  for 
the  small  producer,  but  for  society  as  a  whole. 
From  a  motive  power  of  progress  it  has  become 
a  cause  of  social  degradation  and  bankruptcy. 

Today  there  is  no  longer  any  question  as  to 
whether  the  system  of  private  ownership  in  the 
means  of  production  shall  be  maintained.  Its 
downfall  is  certain.  The  only  question  to  be 
answered  is :  Shall  the  system  of  private  owner- 
ship in  the  means  of  production  be  allowed  to 
pull  society  with  itself  down  into  the  abyss ;  or 
shall  society  shake  off  that  burden  and  then,  free 
and  strong,  resume  the  path  of  progress  which 
the  evolutionary  law  prescribes  to  it? 


IV.    THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  THE 
FUTURE. 

1.     Social  Reform  and  Social  Revolution. 

"Private  ownership  in  the  instruments  of  produc- 
tion, once  the  means  of  securing  to  the  producer 
the  ownership  of  his  product,  has  to-day  become  the 
means  of  expropriating  the  farmer,  the  artisan,  and 
the  small  trader,  and  of  placing  the  non-producers — 
capitalists  and  landlords — in  possession  of  the  prod- 
ucts of  labor.  Only  the  conversion  of  private  own- 
ership of  the  means  of  production — the  land,  mines, 
raw  materials,  tools,  machines*  and  the  means  of 
transportation  and  communication — into  social  own- 
ership and  the  conversion  of  commodity  production 
into  socialist  production,  carried  on  for  and  by  so- 
ciety, can  production  on  a  large  scale  and  the  ever- 
increasing  productivity  of  social  labor  be  changed 
from  a  source  of  misery  and  oppression  for  the  ex- 
ploited classes,  into  one  of  well-being  and  harmon- 
ious development." — Article  5,  Erfurter   Program. 

The  productive  forces  that  have  been  gener- 
ated in  capitalist  society  have  become  irreconcil- 
able with  the  very  system  of  property  upon 
which  it  is  built.  The  endeavor  to  uphold  this 
system  of  property  renders  impossible  all  further 
social  development,  condemns  society  to  stagna- 
tion and  decay — a  decay  that  is  accompanied  by 
the  most  painful  convulsions. 

Every  further  perfection  in  the  powers  of  pro- 
duction increases  the  contradiction  that  exists 
between  these  and  the  present  system  of  prop- 
erty. All  attempts  to  remove  this  contradiction, 
or  even  to  soften  it  down,  without  interfering 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE       89 

ivith  property,  have  proved  vain,  and  must  con- 
Mnue  so  to  prove  as  often  as  attempted. 

For  the  last  hundred  years  thinkers  and  states- 
men among  the  possessing  classes  have  been  try- 
ing to  prevent  the  threatened  downfall  of  the 
system  of  private  property  in  the  instruments  of 
production,  that  is  to  say,  to  prevent  revolution. 
Social  reform  is  the  name  they  give  to  their 
perpetual  tinkerings  with  the  industrial  mechan- 
ism for  the  sake  of  removing  this  or  that  ill 
elTect  of  private  property  in  the  means  of  pro- 
duction, at  least  of  softening  its  edge,  without 
touching  private  property  itself.  During  the  last 
hundred  years  manifold  cures  have  been  recom- 
mended and  tried ;  it  is  now  hardly  possible  to 
imagine  any  new  receipe  in  this  line.  All  the  so- 
called  "latest"  panaceas  of  our  social  quacks 
which  are  to  heal  the  old  social  evils  quickly, 
without  pain  and  without  expense,  are,  upon 
closer  inspection,  discovered  to  be  but  a  revival 
of  old  devices,  all  of  which  have  been  tried  be- 
fore in  other  places  and  found  worthless.  We 
pronounce  these  reforms  inoperative  in  so  far 
as  they  propose  to  remove  the  growing  contra- 
dictions between  the  powers  of  production  and 
the  existing  system  of  property  and  at  the  same 
time  strive  to  uphold  and  confirm  the  latter.  But 
we  do  not  mean  that  the  social  revolution — the 
abolition  of  private  property  in  the  means  of 
production — will  be  accomplished  of  itself,  that 
the  irresistible,  inevitable  course  of  evolution  will 
do  the  work  without  the  assistance  of  man ;  nor 
yet  that  all  social  reforms  are  worthless  and  that 
nothing  is  left  to  those  who  suffer  from  the  con- 


90  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

tradiction  between  the  modern  powers  of  pro- 
duction and  the  system  of  property  but  idly  to 
fold  their  arms  and  patiently  to  wait  for  its  abo- 
lition. 

When  we  speak  of  the  irresistible  and  inevit-  ' 
able  nature  of  the  social  revolution,  we  presup- 
pose that  men  are  men  and  not  puppets ;  that 
they  are  beings  endowed  with  certain  wants  and 
impulses,  with  certain  physical  and  mental  powers 
which  they  will  seek  to  use  in  their  own  interest. 
Patiently  to  yield  to  what  may  seem  unavoidable 
is  not  to  allow  the  social  revolution  to  take  its 
course,  but  to  bring  it  to  a  standstill. 

When  we  declare  the  abolition  of  private  prop- 
erty in  the  means  of  production  to  be  unavoid- 
able, we  do  not  mean  that  some  fine  morning  the 
exploited  classes  will  find  that,  without  their 
help,  some  good  fairy  has  brought  about  the  rev- 
olution. We  consider  the  breakdown  of  the 
present  social  system  J;o  be  unavoidable,  because 
we  know  that  the  economic  evolution  inevitably 
brings  on  conditions  that  will  compel  the  ex- 
ploited classes  to  rise  against  this  system  of  pri- 
vate ownership.  We  know  that  this  system  mul- 
tiplies the  number  and  the  strength  of  the  ex- 
ploited, and  diminishes  the  number  and  strength 
of  the  exploiting,  classes,  and  that  it  will  finally 
lead  to  such  unbearable  conditions  for  the  mass 
of  the  population  that  they  will  have  no  choice 
but  to  go  down  into  degradation  or  to  overthrow 
the  system  of  private  property. 

Such  a  revolution  may  assume  many  forms, 
according  to  the  circumstances  under  which  it 
takes  place.     It  is  by  no  means  necessary  that 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE       91 

it  be  accompanied  with  violence  and  bloodshed. 
There  are  instances  in  history  when  the  ruling 
classes  were  either  so  exceptionally  clear-sighted 
or  so  particularly  weak  and  cowardly  that  they 
submitted  to  the  inevitable  and  voluntarily  ab- 
dicated. Neither  is  it  necessary  that  the  social 
revolution  be  decided  at  one  blow ;  such  probably 
was  never  the  case.  Revolutions  prepare  them- 
selves by  years  or  decades  of  economic  and  polit- 
ical struggle ;  they  are  accomplished  amidst  con- 
stant ups  and  downs  sustained  by  the  conflicting 
classes  and  parties ;  not  infrequently  they  are  in- 
terrupted by  long  periods  of  reaction. 

Nevertheless,  however  manifold  the  forms 
may  be  which  a  revolution  may  assume,  never 
yet  was  any  revolution  accomplished  without  vig- 
orous action  on  the  part  of  those  who  suffered 
most  under  the  existing  conditions. 

When,  furthermore,  we  declare  that  those  so- 
cial reforms  which  stop  short  of  the  overthrow 
of  the  present  system  of  property  are  unable  to 
abolish  the  contradictions  which  the  present  eco- 
nomic development  has  produced,  we  by  no 
means  imply  that  all  struggles  on  the  part  of 
the  exploited  against  their  present  sufferings  are 
useless  within  the  framework  of  the  existing  so- 
cial order.  Nor  do  we  claim  that  they  should 
patiently  endure  all  the  ill-treatment  and  all  the 
forms  of  exploitation  which  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem may  decree  to  them,  or  that  so  long  as  they 
are  at  all  exploited,  it  matters  little  h<i)w.  What 
we  do  mean  is  that  the  exploited  classes  should 
not  overrate  the  social  reforms,  and  should  not 
imagine  that  through  them  the  existing  condi- 


92  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

tions  can  be  rendered  satisfactory.  The  /  c■^ 
ploited  classes  should  carefully  examine  all  jvie 
social  reforms  that  are  offered  to  them.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  proposed  reforms  are  not  only  use- 
less, but  positively  injurious  to  the  exploited 
classes.  Most  dangerous  of  all  are  those  which, 
aiming  at  the  salvation  of  the  threatened  social 
order,  shut  their  eyes  to  the  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  last  century.  The  working-men  who 
take  the  field  in  favor  of  such  schemes  waste 
their  energies  in  a  senseless  endeavor  to  revive 
the  dead  past. 

Many  are  the  ways  in  which  the  economic  de- 
velopment may  be  influenced :  it  may  be  hastened 
and  it  may  be  retarded ;  its  results  may  be  made 
more,  or  less,  painful ;  only  one  thing  is  impos- 
sible— to  stop  its  course,  or  turn  it  back. 

When,  for  instance,  in  the  early  stages  of 
capitalism,  the  workers  destroyed  the  machines, 
opposed  woman's  labor,  and  so  on,  their  efforts 
were  useless,  and  could  not  be  otherwise.  They 
arrayed  themselves  against  a  development  that 
nothing  could  resist.  Since  then  they  have  hit 
upon  better  methods  whereby  to  shield  them- 
selves as  much  as  possible  against  the  injurious 
effects  of  capitalist  exploitation.  With  their 
trade-unions  and  their  political  activities,  each 
supplementing  the  other,  they  have  in  all  civil- 
ized countries  met  with  more  or  less  success. 
But  each  of  their  successes,  be  it  the  raising  of 
wages,  the  shortening  of  hours,  the  prohibition 
of  child  labor,  the  establishment  of  sanitary 
regulations,  gives  a  new  impulse  to  the  economic 
development.     For  example  it  may  have  caused 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    THE    FUTURE       93 

the  capitalist  to  replace  the  dearer  labor  with 
machinery,  or  it  may  have  forced  up  his  pay- 
roll and  thereby  rendered  the  competitive  strug- 
gle harder  for  the  small  capitalist,  shortened 
his  economic  existence  and  hastened  the  con- 
centration of  capital. 

Accordingly,  however  justifiable,  or  even  neces- 
sary, it  may  be  for  the  workmen  to  establish  labor 
organizations  to  better  their  condition  by  lower- 
ing the  hours  of  work  and  securing  other  equally 
wholesome  changes,  it  would  be  a  profound  error 
to  imagine  that  such  reforms  could  delay  the 
social  revolution.  Equally  mistaken  is  the  no- 
tion that  one  cannot  admit  the  usefulness  of  so- 
cial reforms  without  admitting  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  preserve  society  upon  its  present  basis. 
On  the  contrary,  reforms  may  be  supported 
from  the  revolutionary  standpoint  and  because, 
as  has  been  shown,  they  hasten  the  course  of 
events  and  because,  so  far  from  doing  away  with 
the  suicidal  tendencies  of  the  capitalist  system, 
they  '•ather  strengthen  them. 

The  turning  of  the  people  into  proletarians, 
the  concentration  of  capital  in  the  hands  of  a 
few,  who  rule  the  whole  economic  life  of  capi- 
talist nations,  none  of  these  cruel  and  revolting 
effects  of  the  capitalist  system  can  be  checked  by 
any  reform  that  is  based  upon  the  existing  sys- 
tem of  property,  however  far-reaching  such  re- 
form may  be. 

2.     Private   Property  and  Common  Property. 

Indeed,  there  can  no  longer  be  any  question  as 
to  how  private  property  in  the  instruments  of 


94  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

production  is  to  be  preserved ;  the  only  question 
is  what  shall,  or  rather  must,  take  its  place.  It 
is  not  a  question  of  making  an  invention  but 
of  dealing  with  a  fact.  We  have  as  little  cnoice 
in  the  matter  of  the  system  of  property  that 
shall  be  instituted  as  we  have  in  the  matter  of 
preserving  the  present  one  or  throwing  it  over- 
board. 

The  same  economic  development  that  forces 
on  us  the  question.  What  shall  we  put  in  the 
place  of  the  system  of  private  ownership  in  the 
means  of  production?  brings  with  it  the  condi- 
tions that  answer  the  question.  The  new  sys- 
tem of  property  lies  latent  in  the  old.  To  be- 
come acquainted  with  it  we  must  turn,  not  to  our 
personal  leanings  and  desires,  but  to  the  facts 
that  surround  us. 

Whoever  understands  the  conditions  that  ^re 
requisite  for  the  present  system  of  production 
knows  what  system  of  property  those  condi- 
tions will  demand  when  the  existing  system  of 
property  ceases  to  be  possible.  Private  property 
in  the  instruments  of  production  has  its  root 
in  small  production.  Individual  production  makes 
individual  ownership  necessary.  Large  produc- 
tion, on  the  contrary,  means  co-operation,  social 
production.  In  large  production  the  individual 
does  not  work  alone,  but  a  large  number  of 
workers,  the  whole  commonwealth,  work  to- 
gether to  produce  a  whole.  Accordingly,  the 
modern  instruments  of  production  are  extensive 
and  powerful.  It  has  become  wholly  impossible 
that  every  single  worker  should  own  his  own 
instruments   of   production.      Once   the   present 


fHE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE       95 

:ita\\'  is  reached  by  large  production,  it  admits 
of   ibut  two  systems  of  ownership. 

Litst,  private  ownership  by  the  individual  in 
the  means  of  production  used  by  co-operative 
labor;  that  means  the  existing  system  of  capi- 
talist production  with  its  train  of  misery  and  ex- 
ploitation as  the  portion  of  the  workers  and  suf- 
focating abundance  as  the  portion  of  the  capi- 
talist. 

Second,  ownership  by  the  workers  in  common 
of  the  instruments  of  production ;  that  means  a 
co-operative  system  of  production  and  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  exploitation  of  the  workers,  who 
become  masters  of  their  own  products  and  who 
themselves  appropriate  the  surplus  of  which, 
under  our  system,  they  are  deprived  by  the  capi- 
talist. 

To  subsiitutc  common,  for  private,  ownership 
in  the  means  of  production,  this  it  is  that  eco- 
nomic development  is  urging  tip  on  lis  zvith  ever- 
increasing  force. 

3.    Socialist  Production. 

The  abolition  of  the  present  system  of  pro- 
duction means  substituting  production  for  use 
for  production  for  sale. 

Production  for  use  may  be  of  two  forms : 

First,  individual  production  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  individual  wants ;  and. 

Second,  social  or  co-operative  production  for 
the  satisfaction  of  the  wants  of  a  commonwealth. 

The  first  form  of  production  has  never  been  a 
general  form  of  production.  Man  has  always 
been  a  social  being,  as  far  back  as  we  can  trace 


96  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

liim.  The  individual  has  always  been  thrown 
upon  co-operation  with  others  in  order  to  satisfy 
some  of  his  principal  wants ;  others  had  to  work 
for  him  and  he.  in  turn,  had  to  work  for  others. 
Individual  production  for  self-consumption  has 
always  played  a  subordinate  part ;  today  it  hardly 
deserves  mention. 

Until  the  present  system  of  production  (pro- 
duction for  sale)  was  developed,  co-operative 
production  for  common  use  was  the  leading 
form;  it  is  as  old  as  production  itself.  If  any 
one  system  of  production  could  be  considered 
better  adapted  than  any  other  to  the  nature  of 
man,  then  co-operative  production  must  be  pro- 
nounced the  natural  one.  In  all  probability  for 
every  thousand  years  of  production  for  sale,  co- 
operative production  foi"  use  numbers  tens  of' 
thousands.  The  character,  extent  and  power  of 
co-operative  societies  have  changed  along  with 
the  instruments  and  methods  of  production  which 
they  adopted.  Nevertheless,  whether  such  a 
commonwealth  was  a  horde  or  a  tribe  or  any 
other  form  of  community,  they  all  had  certain  es- 
sential features  in  common.  Each  satisfied  its 
own  wants,  at  least  the  most  vital  ones,  with 
the  product  of  its  own  labor;  the  instruments  of 
production  were  the  property  of  the  community ; 
its  members  worked  together  as  free  and  equal 
individuals  according  to  some  plan  inherited  or 
devised,  and  administered  by  some  power  elected 
by  themselves.  The  product  of  such  co-operative 
labor  was  the  property  of  the  community  and 
was  applied  either  to  the  satisfaction  of  common 
wants,  whether  these  were  occasioned  by  produc- 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE       97 

tion  or  consumption,  or  were  distributed  among 
the  individuals  or  groups  which  composed  the 
community. 

The  well-being  of  such  self-supporting  com- 
munities or  societies  depended  upon  natural  and 
personal  conditions.  The  more  fertile  the  ter- 
ritory they  occupied,  the  more  diligent,  inventive 
and  vigorous  their  members,  the  greater  was 
the  general  well-being.  Drouths,  freshets,  in- 
vasions by  more  powerful  enemies,  might  afflict, 
or  even  destroy,  them,  but  there  was  one  visita- 
tion they  were  free  from,  the  fluctuations  of  the 
market.  With  this  they  were  either^  wholly  un- 
acquainted, or  they  knew  it  only  in  connection 
with  articles  of  luxury. 

Such  co-operative  production  for  use  is  noth- 
ing less  than  communistic  or,  as  it  is  called  to- 
day, socialist  production.  Production  for  sale 
can  be  overcome  only  by  such  a  system.  So- 
cialist production  is  the  only  system  of  produc- 
tion possible  whofi  production  for  sale  has  be- 
come impossible. 

This  fact  does  not,  however,  imply  that  it  is 
necessary  to  revive  the  dead  past  or  to  restore 
the  old  forms  of  community  property  or  com- 
munal production.  These  forms  were  adapted 
to  certain  means  of  production ;  they  were,  and 
continue  to  be,  inapplicable  to  more  highly  de- 
veloped instruments  of  production.  It  was  for 
that  reason  that  they  disappeared  almost  every- 
where in  the  course  of  economic  development 
at  the  approach  of  the  system  of  production  for 
sale,  and  wherever  they  did  resist  the  latter,  their 
effect  was  to  interfere  with  the  development  of 


98  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

productive  powers.    As  reactionary  and  hopelfS.^ 
as  were  the  efforts  to  resist  the  system  of  pre 
duction  for  sale,  would  be  today  any  endeavor 
to  overthrow  the  present  by  a  revival  of  the  old 
communal  system. 

The  system  of  socialist  production  which  has 
become  necessary,  owing  to  the  impending  bank- 
ruptcy of  our  present  system  of  production  for 
sale,  will  and  must  have  certain  features  in  com- 
mon with  the  older  systems  of  communal  pro- 
duction, in  so  far,  namely,  as  both  are  systems 
of  co-operative  production  for  use.  In  the  same 
way,  the  capitalist  system  of  production  bears 
some  resemblance  to  the  system  of  small  and 
individual  production,  which  forms  the  transi- 
tion between  it  and  communal  production ;  both 
produce  for  sale.  Just  as  the  capitalist  system 
of  production,  as  a  higher  development  of  com- 
modity production,  is  different  from  small  pro- 
duction, so  will  the  form  of  social  production, 
that  has  now  become  necessar^'  be  different  from 
the  former  systems  of  production  for  use. 

The  coming  system  of  socialist  production  will 
not  be  the  sequel  to  ancient  communism;  it  will 
be  the  sequel  to  the  capitalist  system  of  produc- 
tion, which  itself  develops  the  elements  that  are 
requisite  for  the  organization  of  its  successor. 
It  brings  forth  the  new  people  whom  the  new 
system  of  production  needs.  But  it  also  brings 
forth  the  social  organization  which,  as  soon  as 
the  new  people  have  mastered  it,  will  become  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  new  system  of  produc- 
tion. 

Socialist  production  requires,  in  the  fiiist  place, 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    THE    FUTURE       99 

the  transformation  of  the  separate  capitalist  es- 
tabHshments  into  social  institutions.  This  trans- 
formation is  being  prepared  for  by  the  circum- 
stance that  the  personality  of  the  capitalist  is 
steadily  becoming  more  and  more  superfluous  in 
the  present  mechanism  of  production.  In  the 
second  place,  it  requires  that  all  the  establish- 
ments requisite  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  wants 
of  the  commonwealth  be  united  into  one  large 
concern.  How  economic  development  is  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  this  by  the  steady  concentration 
of  capitalist  concerns,  has  been  explained  in  the 
foregoing  chapter. 

What  must  be  the  size  of  such  a  self-sufficing 
commonwealth?  As  the  socialist  republic  is  not 
an  arbitrary  creation  of  the  brain,  but  a  neces- 
sary product  of  economic  development,  the  size 
of  such  a  commanwealth  cannot  be  prede- 
termined. It  must  conform  to  the  stage  of  social 
development  out  of  which  it  grows.  The  higher 
the  development  that  has  been  reached,  the 
greater  the  division  of  labor  that  has  been  per- 
fected, the  more  intercourse  has  developed  be- 
tween the  producers — the  larger  will  be  the  size 
of  the  commonwealth. 

It  is  now  nearly  two  hundred  years  since  a 
well-meaning  Englishman,  John  Bellers,  sub- 
mitted to  the  English  Parliament  a  plan  to  end 
the  misery  which  even  then  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem, young  as  it  was,  was  spreading  through 
the  land.  He  proposed  the  establishment  oii 
communities  that  should  produce  everything  that 
they  needed,  industrial  as  well  as  agricultural 
products.      According   to    his    plan,    each    com- 


100  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

munity  needed  only  from  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred  workmen. 

At  that  time  handicraft  was  still  the  leading 
form  of  production;  the  capitalist  system  was 
still  in  the  manufacturing  stage ;  as  yet  there 
was  no  thought  of  the  capitalist  concern  with  its 
modern  machinery. 

A  hundred  years  later  the  same  idea  was  taken 
up  anew,  but  considerably  deepened  and  per- 
fected, by  socialist  thinkers.  By  that  time  tlie 
present  factory  system  of  mills  and  machinery 
had  already  begun;  handicrafts  were  here  and 
there  disappearing;  society  had  reached  a  higher 
stage,  Accordingly,  the  communities  which  the 
socialists  proposed  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the 
ills  of  the  capitalist  system  were  ten  times  larger 
than  those  proposed  by  Bellers  (for  instance,  the 
phalansteries  of  Fourier). 

In  comparison  with  the  ecnomic  conditions  of 
the  time  of  Bellers,  those  which  Fourier  knew 
seemed  wonderfully  advanced ;  but  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  generation  later  these,  in  their 
turn,  had  become  trivial.  The  machine  was  rest- 
lessly revolutionizing  social  life ;  it  had  expanded 
capitalist  undertakings  to  such  an  extent  that 
some  of  them  already  embraced  whole  nation;i 
in  their  operations ;  it  had  brought  the  several 
undertakings  of  a  country  into  greater  depend- 
ence upon  one  another  so  that  they  virtually  con- 
stituted one  industry ;  and  it  constantly  tends  ro 
turn  the  whole  economic  life  of  capitalist  nations 
into  a  single  economic  mechanism.  The  division 
and  subdivision  of   labor  is  carried  on  further 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     101 

and  further:  the  several  industries  apply  them- 
selves more  and  more  to  the  production  of  special 
articles  only;  and  what  is  more,  to  their  produc- 
tion for  the  whole  world ;  and  the  size  of  these 
establishments,  some  of  which  count  their  work- 
men by  thousands,  becomes  constantly  larger. 

Under  such  circumstances,  a  community  de- 
signed to  satisfy  its  wants  and  embracing  all  the 
requisite  industries,  must  have  dimensions  very 
different  from  those  of  the  socialist  colonies 
planned  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. Among  the  social  organizations  in  exis- 
tence today  there  is  but  one  that  has  the  requisite 
dimensions,  that  can  be  used  as  the  requisite 
field,  for  the  establishment  and  development  of 
the  Socialist  or  Co-operative  Commonwealth, 
and  that  is  the  modern  state. 

Indeed,  so  great  is  the  development  that  pro- 
duction has  reached  in  some  industries  and  so 
intimate  have  become  the  connections  between 
the  several  capitalist  nations  that  one  might  al- 
most question  whether  the  limits  of  the  state 
are  sufficiently  inclusive  to  contain  the  Co-opera- 
tive Commonwealth. 

Nevertheless,  there  is  something  else  to  be 
taken  into  account.  The  present  expansion  of 
international  intercourse  is  due,  not  so  much  to 
the  existing  conditions  of  production  as  to  the 
existing  condition  of  exploitation.  The  greater 
the  extension  of  capitalist  production  in  a  coun- 
try and  the  intenser  the  exploitation  of  the  work- 
ing class,  the  larger  also,  as  a  rule,  is  the  surplus 
of  products  that  cannot  be  consumed  in  the 
country  itself  and   that,   consequently,  must  be 


102  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

sent  abroad.  If  the  population  of  the  country 
have  not  themselves  the  means  to  buy  the  staples 
which  they  produce,  the  capitalists  go  with  their 
products  in  search  of  foreign  customers,  whether 
or  not  the  population  of  their  own  country  stand 
in  need  of  the  products.  The  capitalists  are 
after  purchasers,  not  after  consumers.  This  ex- 
plains the  horrible  phenomenon  that  Ireland  and 
India  export  large  quantities  of  wheat  during 
a  famine ;  recently,  during  the  frightful  famine 
in  Russia,  the  exportation  of  wheat  by  the  Rus- 
sian capitalists  could  be  checked  only  by  an  im- 
perial order.  When  exploitation  shall  have 
ceased,  and  production  for  use  shall  have  taken 
the  place  of  production  for  sale,  exportation  and 
importation  of  products  from  one  state  to  an- 
other will  fall  off  greatly. 

The  existing  commerce  between  the  several 
nations  will  not  entirely  disappear.  The  division 
of  labor  has  been  carried  on  so  far,  the  market 
which  certain  giant  industries  require  for  their 
products  has  become  so  extensive,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  so  many  commodities, — supplied 
only  by  international  commerce, — coffee,  for  in- 
stance— have  become  necessities,  that  it  seems 
impossible  for  any  Co-operative  Commonwealth, 
even  though  co-extensive  with  a  nation,  to  sat- 
isfy all  its  wants  with  its  own  products.  Some 
sort  of  exchange  of  products  between  jne  na- 
tion and  another  is  sure  to  continue.  Such  ex- 
change will  not,  however,  endanger  the  economic 
independence  and  safety  of  the  several  nations 
so  long  as  they  produce  all  that  is  actually  neces- 
sary and  exchange  with  one  another  superfluities 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     103 

only.  A  co-operative  commonwealth  co-exten- 
sive with  the  nation  could  produce  all  that  it  re- 
quires for  its  own  preservation. 

This  dimension  would  by  no  means  be  unal- 
terable. The  modern  nation  is  but  a  product  and 
tool  of  the  capitalist  system  of  production ;  it 
grows  with  that  system,  not  only  in  power,  but 
also  in  extent.  The  domestic  market  is  the  safest 
for  the  capitalist  class  of  every  country.  It  is 
the  easiest  to  maintain  and  to  exploit.  In  pro- 
portion as  the  capitalist  system  develops,  so  also 
grows  the  pressure  on  the  part  of  the  capitalist 
class  in  every  nation  for  an  extension  of  its 
political  boundaries.  The  statesman  who  main- 
tained that  modern  wars  are  no  longer  manifes- 
tations of  dynastic,  but  of  national,  aspirations 
was  not  far  from  the  truth,  provided  one  under- 
stands by  national  aspirations  the  aspirations  of 
\he  capitalist  class.  Nothing  so  much  injures  the 
vital  interests  of  the  capitalists  of  any  nation  as 
a  reduction  of  their  territory.  The  capitalist 
class  of  France  would  long  ago  have  pardoned 
Germany  the  $1,250,000,000  which  she  demanded 
as  an  indemnity  for  the  war  of  1870,  but  can 
never  pardon  the  annexation  of  Alsace-Lorraine. 

All  modern  nations  feel  the  necessity  of  ex- 
tending their  boundaries.  This  is  easiest  for  the 
United  States,  which  will  soon  actually  control  all 
America,  and  for  England,  which  is  enabled  by 
its  sea  power  to  expand  the  extent  of  its  colonies 
without  interruption.  Russia  also  enjoyed  at 
one  time  great  advantages  in  this  respect,  but 
the  limits  of  her  aggrandizement  seem  to  have 
been   reached;   she   is  bounded  on  all  sides  by 


104  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

nations  which  resist  her  advancement.  Worst 
off  are  the  nations  of  continental  Europe  in  this 
respect;  they,  as  well  as  others,  require  terri- 
torial expansion,  but  they  are  so  closely  hemmed 
in  by  one  another  that  none  can  grow  except  at 
the  expense  of  some  other.  The  colonial  policy 
of  these  states  affords  inadequate  relief  to  the 
need  of  expansion  caused  by  their  capitalist 
system  of  production.  This  situation  is  the  most 
powerful  cause  of  the  militarism  which  has 
turned  Europe  into  a  military  camp.  There  are 
but  two  ways  out  of  this  intolerable  state  of 
things :  either  a  gigantic  war  that  shall  destroy 
some  of  the  existing  European  states,  or  the 
union  of  them  all  in  a  federation. 

This  is  enough  to  show  that  every  modern 
state  has  the  desire  to  expand  in  response  to  the 
demands  of  economic  development.  In  this  way 
each  is  seeing  to  it  that  its  boundaries  become 
sufficiently  extensive  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  the 
coming  co-operative  commonwealth. 

4.     The  Economic  Significance  of  the  State. 

All  communities  have  had  economic  functions 
to  fulfill !  This  must,  self-evidently,  have  been  the 
case  with  the  original  communist  societies  which 
we  encounter  at  the  threshold  of  history.  In 
proportion  as  individual  small  production,  private 
ownership  in  the  means  of  production,  and  pro- 
duction for  sale  underwent  their  successive  de- 
velopment, a  number  of  social  functions  came 
into  existence,  the  fulfillment  of  which  either  ex- 
ceeded the  power  of  the  individual  industries,  or 
were  from  the  start  recognized  as  too  important 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     105 

to  be  handed  over  to  the  arbitrary  conduct  of 
individuals.  Along  with  the  care  for  the  poor, 
the  young,  the  old,  the  infirm  (schools,  hospitals, 
ixxjrhouses),  the  community  reserved  the  func- 
tions of  promoting  and  regulating  commerce — 
i.  e.,  building  highways,  coining  money,  superin- 
tending highways — and  the  management  of  cer- 
tain general  and  important  matters  pertaining  to 
production.  In  mediaeval  society  these  several 
functions  devolved  upon  the  towns  and  some- 
times upon  religious  corporations.  The  mediaeval 
state  was  little  concerned  with  such  functions. 
All  this  changed  as  the  state  took  on  its  modern 
form,  that  is,  became  the  state  of  office-holders 
and  soldiers,  the  tool  of  the  capitalist  class.  Like 
all  previous  states,  the  modern  state  is  the  tool 
of  class  rule.  It  could  not,  however,  fulfill  its 
mission  and  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  capitalist 
class  without  either  dissolving,  or  depriving  of 
their  independence,  those  economic  institutions 
which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  pre-capitalist 
social  system,  and  taking  upon  itself  their  func- 
tions. Even  in  places  where  the  modem  state 
tolerated  the  continuance  of  mediaeval  organiza- 
tions, these  fell  into  decay  and  became  less  and 
less  able  to  fulfill  their  functions.  These  func- 
tions became,  however,  broader  and  broader  with 
the  development  of  the  capitalist  system;  they 
grew  with  such  rapidity  that  the  state  was  grad- 
ually compelled  to  assume  even  those  functions 
which  it  cares  least  to  trouble  itself  about.  For 
instance,  the  necessity  of  taking  over  the  whole 
system  of  charitable  and  educational  institutions 
has  become  so  pressing  upon  the  state  that  it  has 


106    '  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

in  most  cases  surrendered  to  this  necessity.  From 
the  start  it  assumed  the  function  of  coining 
money;  since  then,  forestry,  care  of  the  water 
supply,  building  of  roads,  come  constantly  more 
under  its  jurisdiction. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  capitalist  class,  in 
its  self-confidence,  imagined  it  could  free  itself 
from  the  economic  activities  of  the  state ;  the 
state  should  only  watch  over  their  safety  at  home 
and  abroad,  keep  the  proletarians  and  foreign 
competitors  in  check,  but  keep  its  hands  off  the 
whole  economic  life.  The  capitalist  class  had 
good  reasons  for  desiring  this.  However  great 
the  power  of  the  capitalists,  the  power  of  the  state 
had  not  always  shown  itself  as  subservient  as 
they  wished.  Even  where  the  capitalist  class  had 
virtually  no  competitor  with  whom  to  dispute  the 
overlordship,  and  where,  accordingly,  the  power 
of  the  state  showed  itself  friendly,  the  ofifiice- 
holders  often  became  disagreeable  friends  to  deal 
with. 

The  hostility  of  the  capitalist  class  to  the  in- 
terference of  the  state  in  the  economic  life  of  a 
country  came  to  the  surface  first  in  England, 
where  it  received  the  name  of  the  "Manchester 
School."  The  doctrines  of  that  school  were  the 
first  weapons  with  which  the  capitalist  class  took 
the  field  against  the  socialist-labor  movement.  It 
is  therefore  no  wonder  that  the  opinion  took  hold 
of  many  a  socialist  workingman  that  a  supporter 
of  the  Manchester  School  and  a  capitalist  were 
one  and  the  same  thing  and  that,  on  the  other 
hand.  Socialism  and  the  interference  of  the  state 
in  the  economic  affairs  of  a  country  were  identi- 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     107 

cal.  No  wonder  that  such  workingmen  beheved 
that  to  overthrow  the  Manchester  School  was  to 
overthrow  capitalism  itself.  Nothing  less  true. 
The  Manchester  teaching  was  never  anything 
more  than  a  teaching  which  the  capitaHst  class 
played  against  the  workingman  or  the  govern- 
ment whenever  it  suited  its  purposes,  but  from 
the  logical  practice  of  which  it  has  carefully 
guarded  itself.  Today  the  Manchester  School  no 
longer  influences  the  capitalist  class.  The  reason 
of  its  decline  was  the  increasing  force  with  which 
the  economic  and  political  development  urged  tlie 
necessity  of  the  extension  of  the  functions  of  the 
state. 

These  functions  grew  from  day  to  day.  Not 
only  do  those  which  the  state  assumed  from  the 
start  become  ever  larger,  but  new  ones  are  born 
of  the  capitalist  system  itself,  of  which  the  for- 
mer generations  had  no  conception  and  which 
affect  ultimately  the  whole  economic  system. 
Formerly,  statesmen  were  essentially  diplomats 
and  jurists ;  today  they  must,  or  should,  be  econ- 
omists. Treaties  and  privileges,  ancient  re- 
searches and  matters  of  precedent,  are  of  little 
use  in  the  solution  of  modern  political  problems; 
economic  principles  have  become  the  leading 
arguments.  What  are  today  the  chief  matters 
with  which  statesmen  concern  themselves?  Are 
they  not  finance,  colonial  affairs,  tariff,  protection 
and  insurance  of  workingmen? 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  economic  development 
forces  the  state,  partly  in  self-defense,  partly  for 
the  sake  of  better  fulfilling  its  functions,  partly 
also  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  its  revenues, 


108  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

to  take  into  its  own  hands  more  and  more  func- 
tions or  industries. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  the  rulers  derived 
their  main  income  from  their  property  in  land; 
later,  during  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries,  their  treasuries  derived  large  ac- 
cessions from  the  plundering  of  church  and  other 
estates.  On  the  other  hand,  the  need  of  money 
frequently  compelled  the  rulers  to  sell  their  land 
to  the  capitalists.  In  most  European  countries 
even  now,  however,  very  considerable  survivals 
of  the  former  state  ownership  of  land  can  be 
found  in  the  domains  of  the  crown  and  the  state 
mines.  Furthermore,  the  development  of  the 
military  system  added  arsenals  and  wharves ;  the 
development  of  commerce  added  post-offices,  rail- 
roads, and  telegraphs;  finally,  the  increasing  de- 
mand for  money  on  the  part  of  the  state  has 
given  birth,  in  European  countries,  to  all  man- 
ner of  state  monopolies. 

While  the  economic  functions  and  the  eco- 
nomic power  of  the  state  are  thus  steadily  in- 
creased, the  whole  economic  mechanism  becomes 
more  and  more  complicated,  more  and  more  sen- 
sitive, and  the  separate  capitalist  undertakings  be- 
come, as  we  have  seen,  proportionately  more 
interdependent  upon  one  another.  Along  with  all 
this  grows  the  dependence  of  the  capitalist  class 
upon  the  greatest  of  all  their  establishments, — the 
state  or  government.  This  increased  dependence 
and  interrelation  increases  also  the  disturbances 
and  disorders  which  afflict  the  economic  mechan- 
ism, for  relief  from  all  of  which,  the  largest  of 
existing  economic  powers,  the  state  or  govern- 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     109 

ment,  is,  with  increasing  frequency,  appealed  to 
by  the  capitahst  class.  Accordingly,  in  modern 
society  the  state  is  called  upon  more  and  more  to 
step  in  and  take  a  hand  in  the  regulation  and 
management  of  the  economic  mechanism,  and 
ever  stronger  are  the  means  placed  at  its  disposal 
and  employed  by  it  in  the  fulfillment  of  this 
function.  The  economic  omnipotence  of  the 
state,  which  appeared  to  the  Manchester  School 
as  a  socialist  Utopia,  has  developed  under  the 
very  eyes  of  that  school  into  an  inevitable  result 
of  the  capitalist  system  of  production  itself. 

5.     State  Socialism  and  the  Social  Democracy. 

The  economic  activity  of  the  modern  state  is 
the  natural  starting  point  of  the  development 
that  leads  to  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth. 
It  does  not,  however,  follow  that  every  national- 
ization of  an  economic  function  or  of  an  indus- 
try is  a  step  towards  the  Co-operative  Common- 
wealth, and  that  the  latter  could  be  the  result  of 
a  general  nationalization  of  all  industries  with- 
out any  change  in  the  character  of  the  state. 

The  theory  that  this  could  be  the  case  is  that 
of  the  state  Socialists.  It  arises  from  a  misun- 
derstanding of  the  state  itself.  Like  all  previous 
systems  of  government,  the  modern  state  is  pre- 
eminently an  instrument  intended  to  guard  the 
interests  of  the  ruling  class.  This  feature  is  in  no 
wise  changed  by  its  assumption  of  features  of 
general  utility  which  affect  the  interests  not  of 
the  ruling  class  alone,  but  of  the  whole  body 
politic.  The  modern  state  assumes  these  func- 
tions often  simply  because  otherwise  the  interests 


110  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

of  the  ruling  class  would  be  endangered  w\h 
those  of  society  as  a  whole,  but  under  no  circum- 
stances has  it  assumed,  or  could  it  ever  assume, 
these  functions  in  such  a  manner  as  to  endanger 
the  overlordship  of  the  capitalist  class. 

If  the  ftiodern  state  nationalizes  certain  indus- 
tries, it  does  not  do  so  for  the  purpose  of  restrict- 
ing capitalist  exploitation,  but  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  capitalist  system  and  establish- 
ing it  upon  a  firmer  basis,  or  for  the  ^purpose  of 
itself  taking  a  hand  in  the  exploitation  of  b.bor, 
increasing  its  own  revenues,  and  thereby  re- 
ducing the  contributions  for  its  own  support 
which  it  would  otherwise  have  to  impose  upon 
the  capitalist  class.  As  an  exploiter  of  labor,  the 
state  is  superior  to  any  private  capitalist.  Be- 
sides the  economic  power  of  the  capitalists,  it  can 
also  bring  to  bear  upon  the  exploited  classes  the 
political  power  which  it  already  wields. 

The  state  has  never  carried  on  the  nationalizing 
of  industries  further  than  the  interests  of  the 
ruling  classes  demanded,  nor  will  it  ever  go  fur- 
ther than  that.  So  long  as  the  property-holding 
classes  are  the  ruling  ones,  the  nationalization  of 
industries  and  capitalist  functions  will  never  be 
carried  so  far  as  to  injure  the  capitalists  and  land- 
lords or  to  restrict  their  opportunities  for  ex- 
ploiting the  proletariat. 

The  state  will  not  cease  to  be  a  capitalist  insti- 
tution until  the  proletariat,  the  working-class,  has 
become  the  ruling  class;  not  until  then  will  it 
become  possible  to  turn  it  into  a  co-operative 
commonwetlth. 

From  the  recognition  of  this  fact  is  born  the 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     111 

a:«r  which  the  Socialist  Party  has  set  before  it: 
to  f-all  the  working-class  to  conquer  the  political 
power  to  the  end  that,  with  its  aid,  they  may 
change  the  state  into  a  self-sufficing  co-operative 
commonwealth. 

Socialists  are  frequently  reproached  with  hav- 
ing no  fixed  aims,  with  being  able  to  do  nothing 
but  criticize  and  with  not  knowing  what  to  put 
in  place  of  that  which  they  would  overthrow. 
Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains  that  none  of  the 
existing-  parties  has  so  well-marked  and  clear  an 
aim  as  the  Socialist  Party.  It  may,  indeed,  be 
questioned  whether  the  other  political  parties 
have  any  aims  at  all.  They  all  hold  to  the  exist- 
ing order,  aithough  they  all  see  that  it  is  un- 
tenable and  unendurable.  Their  programs  con- 
tain nothing  except  a  few  little  patches  by  which 
they  hope  and  promise  to  make  the  untenable, 
tenable  and  the  unendurable,  endurable. 

The  Socialist  Party,  on  the  contrary,  does  not 
build  on  hopes  and  promises,  but  upon  the  un- 
alteral)lc  necessity  of  economic  development. 
Whoever  declares  these  aims  to  be  false  should 
show  in  what  respect  the  teachings  of  Socialist 
political  economy  are  false.  He  should  show 
that  the  theory  of  development  from  small  to 
large  production  is  false,  that  production  is  car- 
ried on  today  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago,  that 
things  are  today  as  they  have  always  been.  Only 
he  who  could  prove  this  is  justified  in  the  belief 
that  things  will  continue  as  they  are.  But  who- 
ever is  not  featherbrained  enough  to  believe  that 
social  conditions  remain  always  the  same,  cannot 
reasonably  suppose  that  the  present  conditions 


112  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

will  continue  forever.  Can  any  other  pnrty  v^ivw 
the  Socialist  Party  point  out  to  him  what  will  and 
must  take  their  place? 

All  other  political  parties  live  only  in  the  pres ' 
ent,  from  hand  to  mouth;  the  Socialist  party  i^ 
the  only  one  which  has  a  dehnite  aim  in  the 
future,  the  only  one  whose  present  policy  is  dic- 
tated by  a  general,  consistent  purpose.  Because 
they  neither  can  nor  will  see,  because  they  stub- 
bornly persist  in  star-gazing,  they  declare  off- 
hand that  the  Socialists  know  not  what  they  want 
except  to  destroy  the  existing  order. 

6.    The  Structure  of  tbe  Future  State. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  meet  all  the  objections, 
misconceptions  and  misstatements  with  which 
the  capitalist  class  strives  to  combat  Socialism. 
It  is  profitless  to  attempt  to  enlighten  malice  and 
stupidity.  Socialists  could  wear  themselves  to 
the  bone  in  such  an  undertaking  and  never  have 
done. 

There  is,  however,  one  objection  that  should 
be  met.  It  is  important  enough  to  merit  thor- 
ough treatment,  and  its  removal  will  make 
clearer  the  point  of  view  and  purpose  of  social- 
ism. 

Our  opponents  declare  that  the  co-opera- 
tive commonwealth  cannot  be  considered  prac- 
ticable and  cannot  be  the  object  of  the  endeav- 
ors of  intelligent  people  until  the  plan  is  pre- 
sented to  the  world  in  a  perfected  form,  and 
has  been  tested  and  found  feasible.  They  claim 
that  no  sensible  man  would  start  to  build  a  house 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     113 

before  he  had  perfected  his  plan,  and  before 
experts  had  approved  of  it;  that  least  of  all 
would  he  pull  down  his  only  dwelling  before  he 
knew  what  else  to  put  in  its  place.  Socialists 
are.  accordingly,  told  that  they  must  come  out 
with  their  plan  of  a  future  state;  if  they  refuse, 
it  is  a  sign  that  they  themselves  have  not  much 
confidence  in  it. 

This  objection  sounds  very  plausible,  so  plaus- 
ible, indeed,  that  even  among  Socialists  them- 
selves many  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  exposi- 
tion of  some  such  plan  is  necessary.  Indeed, 
some  plan  seemed  a  necessary  prerequisite  as 
long  as  the  laws  of  social  evolution  were  un- 
known, and  it  was  believed  that  social  forms 
could  be  built  up  at  will,  like  houses.  People 
speak  even  to-day  of  "the  social  edifice." 

Social  evolution  is  a  modern  science.  Former- 
ly, economic  development  proceeded  so  slowly 
that  it  was  barely  noticeable.  Mankind  often  re- 
mained centuries,  and  even  thousands  of  years, 
at  the  same  stage.  There  are  neighborhoods  in 
Russia  where  the  agricultural  implements  still  in 
use  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  those  that 
we  meet  at  the  very  threshhold  of  history. 
Hence  it  happened  that  the  system  of  production 
in  existence  at  a  certain  time  seemed  an  unalter- 
able arrangement  to  the  people  of  that  age. 
Their  fathers  and  grandfathers  had  produced 
under  that  system  and  the  conclusion  was  that 
their  children  would  do  likewise.  Man  naturally 
considered  the  social  institutions  into  which  he 
was  born  as  permanent  and  ordained  of  God,  and 
thought  it  was  sacrilege  to  attempt  innovations. 


114  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

Great  as  the  changes  might  be  which  w>  te 
wrought  by  wars  and  class-struggles,  they 
seemed  to  affect  nothing  but  the  surface  of 
things.  Such  convulsions  did,  as  a  mattei  of 
course,  affect  the  foundations  also,  but  ,.his 
fact  was  hardly  noticeable  to  the  individual 
observer  who  stood  in  the  midst  of  such  events. 
History  is  essentially  nothing  but  a  more  r  r  less 
faithful  chronicle  of  events  recorded  by  such 
spectators ;  hence  history  remains  essentially  su- 
perficial. Although  one  who  takes  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  thousands  of  years  of  antiquity  can 
clearly  perceive  a  social  evolution,  the  average 
historian  takes  no  notice  of  it. 

Not  until  the  age  of  capitalist  production  was 
reached  did  social  evolution  proceed  at  such  a 
pace  that  men  became  conscious  of  it.  Of  course 
they  first  looked  for  the  causes  of  this  evolution 
on  the  surface.  But  one  who  sticks  to  the  sur- 
face can  see  only  the  forces  which  determine 
the  immediate  course  of  progress,  and  these  are 
not  the  changing  conditions  of  production,  but 
the  changing  ideas  of  men. 

As  the  capitalist  system  developed  it  created 
among  the  persons  who  depended  upon  it,  capital- 
ists, proletarians,  etc.,  new  wants  wholly  differ- 
ent from  those  of  the  people  connected  with  the 
feudal  system  of  production.  To  these  different 
wants  there  corresponded  also  different  ideas  of 
right  and  wrong,  of  necessities  and  luxuries,  of 
usefulness  and  harm.  In  proportion  as  the  capi- 
talist system  grew  and  the  classes  that  had  part 
in  it  became  more  marked,  the  ideas  which  cor- 
responded to  this  system  of  production  became 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     115 

clearer,  asserted  themselves  in  the  government, 
and  were  felt  in  the  social  life,  until  finally  the 
new  classes  that  had  been  formed  took  possession 
of  the  state  and  shaped  it  agreeably  to  their  own 
wants. 

The  philosophers  who  first  endeavored  to  in- 
vestigate the  causes  of  social  development  thought 
they  found  them  in  the  ideas  of  men.  To  a 
certain  degree  they  recognized  that  these  ideas 
sprang  from  material  wants ;  but  the  fact  still 
remained  a  secret  to  them  that  these  wants 
changed  from  age  to  age,  and  that  the  changes 
were  the  results  of  alterations  in  economic  condi- 
tions, that  is,  in  the  system  of  production.  They 
started  with  the  notion  that  the  wants  of  man — 
"human  nature" — were  unchangeable.  Hence 
they  could  see  but  one  "true,"  "natural,"  "just" 
social  system,  because  only  one  could  correspond 
to  the  "true  nature  of  man."  All  other  social 
forms  they  pronounced  the  result  of  mental  aber- 
rations which  came  about  only  because  mankind 
4id  not  realize  sooner  what  they  needed;  human 
judgment,  it  was  thought,  had  been  befogged, 
either,  as  some  imagined,  on  account  of  the 
natural  stupidity  of  man,  or,  as  others  main- 
tained, on  account  of  the  willful  machinations 
of  kings  or  priests.  Looked  at  from  such  a 
standpoint  the  development  of  society  appears 
to  be  the  result  of  a  development  of  thought. 
The  wiser  men  are,  the  quicker  they  are  to  dis- 
cover the  social  forms  that  suit  human  nature 
the  juster  and  better  does  society  .become. 

This  is  the  theory  of  our  so-called  liberal  think* 
ers.     Wherever  their  influence  is  felt  this  vieu 


116  THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE 

prevails.  As  a  matter  of  course  the  first  social- 
ists, who  appeared  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  were  under  the  influence  of  it. 
They,  also,  imagined  that  the  institutions  of  the 
capitahst  state  had  sprung  from  the  brain  of 
the  philosophers  of  the  previous  century.  But 
it  was  clear  to  these  socialists  that  the  capitalist 
system  was  not  the  perfect  thing  which  the 
eighteenth  century  expected.  Accordingly  thi? 
system  appeared  to  them  as  still  falling  short  oi*- 
the  true  one;  the  philosophers  of  the  eighteenth 
century  must  have  made  a  mistake  somewhere. 
The  early  socialists  addressed  themselves  to  the 
task  of  finding  the  mistake,  and,  in  their  turn, 
finding  the  true  social  system,  that  is,  the  one 
that  would  perfectly  suit  human  nature.  They 
realized  that  it  was  necessary  to  elaborate  their 
plan  more  carefully  than  any  of  their  illustrious 
predecessors  had  done,  lest  some  untoward  in- 
fluence should  nullify  their  work  also.  This 
method  of  procedure  was,  moreover,  dictated  by 
circumstances.  The  early  socialists  did  not  stand, 
as  did  their  predecessors,  in  the  presence  of  a 
social  system  near  its  downfall,  nor  uiu  they  have, 
as  did  their  predecessors,  the  encouragement  of  a 
mighty  class  whose  interests  demanded  the  over- 
throw of  the  existing  order.  They  could  not  pre- 
sent the  social  order  for  which  they  strove  as  in- 
evitable, but  only  as  desirable.  It  was  a  necessity 
of  their  situation,  then,  to  present  their  ideal 
in  as  clear  and  tangible  a  form  as  possible  to 
the  end  that  the  mouths  of  people  should  water 
after  it,  and  none  should  entertain  a  doubt  either 
as  to  its  practicability  or  desirability. 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     117 

The  adversaries  of  socialism  have  not  got  be- 
yond the  standpoint  occupied  by  the  social  sci- 
ence of  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  only  socialists 
they  know  and  can  understand  are,  accordingly, 
those  early  Utopian  socialists  who  started  from 
the  same  premises  as  they  themselves.  The  ad- 
versaries of  socialism  look  upon  the  socialist 
commonwealth  just  as  they  would  upon  a  capital- 
ist enterprise,  a  stock  company,  for  example, 
which  is  to  be  "started,"  and  they  refuse  to  take 
stock  before  it  is  shown  in  a  prospectus  that  the 
concern  will  be  practicable  and  profitable.  Such 
a  conception  may  have  had  its  justification  at 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century ;  today, 
however,  the  socialist  commonwealth  no  longer 
needs  the  endorsement  of  these  gentlemen. 

The  capitalist  social  system  has  run  its  course ; 
its  dissolution  is  now  only  a  question  of  time. 
Irresistible  economic  forces  lead  with  the  cer- 
tainty of  doom  to  the  shipwreck  of  capitalist 
production.  The  substitution  of  a  new  social 
order  for  the  existing  one  is  no  longer  simply 
desirable,  it  has  become  inevitable. 

Ever  larger  and  more  powerful  grows  today 
the  mass  of  the  propertyless  workers  for  whom 
the  existing  system  is  unbearable  ;  who  have  noth- 
ing to  lose  by  its  downfall,  but  everything  to 
^ain ;  who  are  bound — imless  they  are  willing  to 
go  down  with  the  society  of  which  they  have 
become  the  most  important  part — to  call  into  be- 
ing a  social  order  that  shall  correspond  to  their 
interests. 

These  statements  are  not  mere  fancies ;  social- 
ists have  demonstrated  them  with  the  actual  facts 


118  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

of  our  system  of  production.  These  facts  are 
more  eloquent  and  convincing  than  the  most 
brilhant  pictures  of  the  future  order  could  be. 
The  best  that  such  pictures  can  do  is  to  show 
that  the  socialist  commonwealth  is  not  impossi- 
ble. But  they  are  bound  to  be  defective ;  they 
can  never  cover  all  the  details  of  social  life;  they 
will  always  leave  some  loophole  through  which 
an  enemy  can  insinuate  an  objection.  That, 
however,  which  is  shown  to  be  inevitable  is 
thereby  shown,  not  only  to  be  possible,  but  to 
be  the  only  thing  possible.  If  indeed  the  social- 
ist commonwealth  were  an  impossibility,  then 
mankind  would  be  cut  ofif  from  all  further 
economic  development.  In  that  event  modern 
society  would  decay,  as  did  the  Roman  empire 
nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  finally  re- 
lapse into  barbarism. 

As  things  stand  today  capitalist  civilization 
cannot  continue ;  we  must  either  move  forward 
into  socialism  or  fall  back  into  barbarism. 

In  view  of  this  situation  it  is  wholly  unneces- 
sary to  endeavor  to  move  the  enemies  of  social- 
ism by  means  of  a  captivating  picture.  Anyone 
to  whom  the  occurrences  of  the  modern  system 
of  production  do  not  loudly  announce  the  neces- 
sity of  the  socialist  commonwealth  will  be  totally 
deaf  to  the  praises  of  a  system  which  does  not 
yet  exist  and  which  he  cannot  realize  nor  under- 
stand. 

Moreover,  the  construction  of  a  plan  upon 
which  the  future  social  order  is  to  be  built  has 
become,  not  only  purposeless,  but  wholly  irre- 
concilable with  the  point  of  view  of  modern  sci- 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     119 

ence.  In  the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century  a 
great  revolution  took  place,  not  only  in  the  eco- 
nomic world,  but  also  in  men's  minds.  Insight 
into  the  causes  of  social  development  has  in- 
creased tremendously.  As  far  back  as  the  forties 
Marx  and  Engels  showed — and  from  that  time 
on  every  step  in  social  science  has  proved  it — 
that,  in  the  last  analysis,  the  history  of  mankind 
is  determined,  not  by  ideas,  but  by  an  economic 
development  which  progresses  irresistibly,  obedi- 
ent to  certain  underlying  laws  and  not  to  any- 
one's wishes  or  whims.  In  the  foregoing  chap- 
ters we  have  seen  how  it  goes  on ;  how  it  brings 
about  new  forms  of  production  which  require 
new  forms  of  society;  how  it  starts  new  wants 
among  men  which  compel  them  to  reflect  upon 
their  social  condition,  and  to  devise  means 
whereby  to  adjust  society  to  the  new  system  in 
accordance  with  which  production  is  carried  on. 
For,  we  must  always  remember,  this  process  of 
adjustment  does  not  proceed  of  itself ;  it  needs 
the  aid  of  the  human  brain.  Without  thought, 
without  ideas,  there  is  no  progress.  But  ideas 
are  only  the  means  to  social  development ;  the 
first  impulse  does  not  proceed  from  them,  as 
was  formerly  believed,  and  as  many  still  think ; 
the  first  impulse  comes  from  economic  condi- 
tions. 

Accordingly  it  is  not  the  thinkers,  the  philoso- 
phers, who  determine  the  trend  of  social  progress. 
What  the  thinkers  can  do  is  to  discover,  to  recog- 
nize, the  trend ;  and  this  they  can  do  in  propor- 
tion to  the  clearness  of  their  understanding  of 
the  conditions  which  preceded,  but  they  can  never 


120  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

themselves  determine  the  course  of  social  evo- 
lution. 

And  even  the  recognition  of  the  trend  of  social 
progress  has  its  limits.  The  organization  of 
social  life  is  most  complex ;  even  the  clearest  in- 
tellect finds  it  impossible  to  probe  it  from  all 
sides  and  to  measure  all  the  forces  at  work  in 
it  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  enable  him  to  fore- 
tell accurately  what  social  forms  will  result  from 
the  joint  action  of  all  these  forces. 

A  new  social  form  does  not  come  into  exist- 
ence through  the  activity  of  certain  especially 
gifted  men.  No  man  or  group  of  men  can  con- 
ceive of  a  plan,  convince  people  by  degrees  of  its 
utihty,  and,  when  they  have  acquired  the  requi- 
site power,  undertake  the  construction  of  a  social 
edifice   according   to   their   plan. 

All  social  forms  have  been  the  result  of  long 
and  fluctuating  struggles.  The  exploited  have 
fought  against  the  exploiting  classes ;  the  sinking 
reactionary  classes  against  the  progressive,  revo- 
lutionary ones.  In  the  course  of  these  struggles 
the  various  classes  have  merged  in  all  manner 
of  combinations  to  battle  with  their  opponents. 
The  camp  of  the  exploited  at  times  contains  both 
revolutionary  and  reactionary  elements  ;  the  camp 
of  the  revolutionists  may  contain  at  times  both 
exploiters  and  exploited.  Within  a  single  class 
different  factions  are  frequently  formed  accord- 
ing to  the  intellect,  the  temperament,  or  the  sta- 
tion of  individuals  or  whole  sections.  And,  final- 
ly, the  power  wielded  by  any  single  class  has 
never  been  permanent ;  each  has  risen  or  fallen 
as  its  understanding  of  the  surrounding  condi- 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    THE    FUTURE     121 

tions,  the  compactness  and  size  of  its  organiza- 
tion, and  its  importance  in  the  mechanism  of 
production  increased  or  diminished. 

In  the  course  of  the  fluctuating  struggles  of 
these  classes  the  older  social  forms,  which  had 
become  untenable,  were  pushed  aside  for  new- 
ones.  The  social  order  which  took  the  place 
of  the  old  was  not  always  immediately  the  best 
possible.  In  order  to  have  made  it  so  the  revo- 
lutionary class  of  each  epoch  would  have  had  to 
be  in  possession  of  the  sole  political  power  and 
the  most  perfect  understanding  of  their  social 
conditions.  As  long  as  this  was  not  the  case, 
mistakes  were  inevitable.  Not  infrequently  a 
new  social  order  proved  itself  partially,  if  not 
wholly,  as  untenable  as  the  one  overthrown. 
Nevertheless,  the  stronger  the  pressure  of  eco- 
nomic development,  the  clearer  became  its  de- 
mands and  the  greater  the  ability  of  the  revolu- 
tionary classes  to  do  what  was  required  of  them. 
The  institutions  of  the  revolutionary  class  which 
were  in  opposition  to  the  demands  of  economic 
development  fell  into  decay  and  were  soon  for- 
gotten. But  those  which  had  become  necessary 
quickly  struck  root  and  could  not  be  extermi- 
nated by  the  upholders  of  the  former  system. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  all  new  social  orders  have 
arisen.  Revolutionary  periods  differ  from  other 
periods  of  social  development  only  by  virtue 
of  the  fact  that  during  them  the  phenomena  of 
development  proceed  at  an  unusually  rapid  pace. 

The  genesis  of  a  social  institution  is,  it  thus 
appears,  very  different  from  that  of  a  building. 
Previously  perfected  plans  are  not  applicable  to 


122  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

the  construction  of  the  former.  In  view  of  this 
fact,  sketching  plans  for  the  future  social  state 
is  about  as  rational  as  writing  in  advance  the 
history  of  the  next  war. 

The  course  of  events  is,  however,  by  no  means 
independent  of  the  individual.  Everyone  who 
is  active  in  society  affects  it  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent.  A  few  individuals,  especially  prominent 
through  their  capacity  or  social  position,  may  ex- 
ercise great  iniluence  upon  the  whole  nation. 
Some  may  promote  the  development  of  society 
by  enlightening  the  people,  organizing  the  revo- 
lutionary forces  and  causing  them  to  act  with 
vigor  and  precision ;  others  may  retard  social  de- 
velopment for  many  years  by  turning  their  pow- 
ers in  the  opposite  direction.  The  former  tend, 
by  the  promotion  of  the  social  evolution,  to  di- 
minish the  sufferings  and  sacrifices  that  it  de- 
mands ;  the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  tend  to  in- 
crease these  sufferings  and  sacrifices.  But  no 
one,  whether  he  be  the  mightiest  monarch  or  the 
wisest  and  most  benevolent  philosopher,  can  de- 
termine at  will  the  direction  that  the  social  evo- 
lution shall  take  or  prophesy  accurately  the  new 
forms  that  it  will  adopt. 

Few  things  are,  therefore,  more  childish  than 
to  demand  of  the  socialist  that  he  draw  a  pic- 
ture of  the  commonwealth  which  he  strives  for. 
This  demand,  which  is  made  of  no  other  party 
than  the  Socialist  Party,  is  so  childish  that  it 
would  not  deserve  much  attention  were  it  not 
for  the  fact  that  it  is  the  objection  against  social- 
ism which  its  adversaries  raise  with  soberest 
mien. 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF    THE    FUTURE     123 

Never  yet  in  the  history  of  mankind  has  it 
happened  that  a  revohitionary  party  was  able 
to  foresee,  let  alone  determine,  the  forms  of 
the  new  social  order  which  it  strove  to  usher  in. 
The  cause  of  progress  gained  much  if  it  could 
as  much  as  ascertain  the  tendencies  that  led  to 
such  a  new  social  order,  to  the  end  that  its 
political  activity  could  be  a  conscious,  and  not 
merely  an  instinctive,  one.  No  more  can  be 
demanded  of  the  Socialist  Party.  At  the  same 
time,  never  yet  was  there  a  political  party  that 
looked  so  deeply  into  the  social  tendencies  of 
its  times,  and  so  thoroughly  understood  them 
as  the  Socialist  Party. 

This  is  due,  not  so  much  to  the  Socialist 
Party's  merit,  as  to  its  good  fortune.  It  owes 
its  superiority  to  the  fact  that  it  stands  upon 
the  shoulders  of  capitalist  political  economy, 
the  first  that  ever  undertook  a  scientific  investi- 
gation of  social  relations  and  conditions.  One 
result  of  this  investigation  was  that  the  revo- 
lutionary classes  which  overthrew  the  feudal 
system  of  production  had  a  much  clearer  con- 
ception of  their  social  mission  and  suffered  much 
less  from  self-deception  than  any  other  revolu- 
tionary class  before  them.  But  the  thinkers  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Socialist  Party  have  carried 
the  investigations  of  the  social  relations  much 
further,  they  have  gone  much  deeper  than  any 
capitalist  economist.  Capital,  Karl  Marx's  great 
work,  has  become  the  lodestar  of  modern  eco- 
nomic science.  As  far  as  the  work  of  Karl 
Marx  stands  above  the  works  of  Quesnay,  Adam 
Smith  and  Ricardo,  just  so  far  stand  the  social- 


124  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

ists  of  today  above  the  revolutionary  classes 
that  appeared  at  the  close  of  th(i  eighteenth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  point 
of  clearness  of  vision  and  certainty  of  purpose. 
If  the  socialists  decline  to  lay  before  the  public 
a  prospectus  of  the  future  commonwealth,  the 
bourgeois  writers  can  find  in  this  fact  no  reason 
to  mock  or  to  conclude  that  we  do  not  know 
what  we  are  after.  The  Socialist  Party  has  a 
clearer  insight  into  the  future  than  had  the  path- 
finders of  the  present  social  order. 

We  have  said  that  a  thinker  may  be  able 
to  discover  the  tendencies  of  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  his  day,  but  that  it  is  impossible 
for  him  to  foresee  the  social  forms  in  which  that 
development  will  ultimately  find  expression.  A 
glance  at  existing  conditions  will  prove  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  view.  The  tendencies  of  the 
capitalist  system  of  production  are  the  same  in 
all  countries  where  it  prevails ;  and  yet  how  dif- 
ferent are  the  political  and  social  forms  in  Eng- 
land from  those  in  France,  those  in  France  from 
those  in  Germany,  and  those  in  the  United 
States  from  any  of  these.  Again,  the  historical 
tendencies  of  the  labor  movement,  which  has 
been  brought  on  by  the  existing  system  of  pro- 
duction, are  everywhere  identical,  and  yet  we 
see  that  the  forms  under  which  this  movement 
manifests  itself  are  different  in  each  country. 

The  tendencies  of  the  capitalist  system  of  pro- 
duction are  today  well  known.  Nevertheless,  no 
one  would  venture  to  foretell  what  forms  it 
will  take  in  ten,  twenty  or  thirty  years — pro- 
vided, of  course,  that  it  endures  that  long.     And 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     125 

.yet  some  demand  of  the  socialists  a  detailed 
description  of  the  social  forms  that  are  to  come 
into  existence  after  the  present  system  of  pro- 
duction. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  from  the  re- 
fusal of  the  socialists  to  draw  up  a  plan  of 
the  future  state  and  the  measures  which  must 
lead  up  to  it  that  they  consider  useless  or  harm- 
ful all  thought  about  the  socialist  society.  The 
useless  and  harmful  thing  is  the  making  of 
positive  propositions  for  bringing  in  and  or- 
ganizing the  socialist  society.  Propositions  for 
the  shaping  of  social  conditions  can  be  made 
only  where  the  field  is  fully  under  control  and 
well  understood.  For  this  reason  the  Socialist 
Party  can  make  positive  propositions  only  for 
the  existing  social  order.  Suggestions  that  go 
beyond  that  cannot  deal  with  facts,  but  must  pro- 
ceed from  suppositions ;  they  are,  accordingly, 
phantasies  and  dreams  which  remain  at  best 
without  result.  In  case  their  inventor  is  vigor- 
ous and  intellectually  gifted  he  may  affect  the 
public  mind,  but  the  only  result  will  be  a  waste 
of  time  and  energy. 

We  should  not,  however,  confuse  with  these 
vagaries  those  inquiries  to  ascertain  the.  ten- 
dencies that  the  economic  development  will  or 
may  take  as  soon  as  it  is  transferred  from  the 
capitalist  to  the  socialist  basis.  In  such  inquiries 
there  is  no  question  of  schemes  for  the  future, 
but  of  the  scientific  consideration  of  results  re- 
vealed by  the  investigation  of  definite  facts.  In- 
quiries of  this  sort  are  by  no  means  useless ;  the 
mc*  clearlv  we  see  into  the  future,  the  better 


126  THE    CLASS   S'lR\JGGi.fc 

will  we  employ  our  energy  in  the  present-  The 
most  noted  thinkers  of  the  Socialist  Party  have 
undertaken  such  inquiries.  The  works  of  Karl 
Marx  and  Frederick  Engels  contain  the  results 
of  many  investigations  of  this  sort.  August 
Bebel  has  given  in  his  book  on  Woman  Under 
Socialism  the  result  of  his  work  in  this  field. 

Similar  inquiries  every  thinking  socialist  has 
probably  carried  on  in  private ;  for  everyone 
who  has  placed  before  himself  a  great  goal  real- 
izes the  need  of  clearness  in  regard  to  the  con- 
ditions under  which  he  can  reach  it.  The  most 
widely  divergent  views  have  been  formed  and 
expressed  by  persons  of  different  position,  tem- 
perament, insight  into  economic  questions  and 
acquaintance  with  other  non-capitalistic,  espe- 
cially communistic,  forms  of  society.  But  such 
differences  in  the  manner  of  looking  at  things 
in  no  way  disturb  the  compactness  and  unity  of 
the  Socialist  Party.  It  makes  little  difference 
how  various  may  be  the  views  of  our  goal,  so 
long  as  our  eyes  are  all  turned  in  the  same  di- 
rection— and  that  the  right  one. 

We  might  close  this  chapter  here.  But  so 
many  false  notions  about  the  socialist  common- 
wealth have  been  inherited  from  the  Utopians 
or  invented  by  ignorant  men  of  letters,  that  this 
course  would  have  the  appearance  of  an  evasion. 
Therefore  we  shall  take  up  certain  of  then  in 
order  to  show  how  the  tendencies  of  our  eco- 
nomic development  might  work  themselves  out 
in  a  socialist  community. 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE   F^URE     127 

7.    The  "Abolition  of  the  Family." 

One  of  the  most  widespread  prejudices  against 
socialism  rests  upon  the  notion  that  it  proposes 
to  abolish  the  family. 

No  socialist  has  the  remotest  idea  of  abolish- 
ing the  family,  that  is,  legally  and  forcibly  »dis- 
solving  it.  Only  the  grossest  misrepresentation 
can  fasten  upon  socialism  any  such  intention. 
Moreover,  it  takes  a  fool  to  imagine  that  a  form 
9f  family  life  can  be  created  or  abolished  by 
decree. 

The  modern  form  of  family  is  in  no  way  op- 
posed .to  the  socialist  system  of  production;  the 
institution  of  the  socialist  order,  therefore,  does 
not  demand  the  abolition  of  the  family. 

What  does  lead  to  the  abolition  of  the  present 
form  of  family  life  is,  not  the  nature  of  co- 
operative production,  but  economic  development. 
We  have  already  seen  in  another  chapter  how 
under  the  present  system  the  family  is  torn  to  ■ 
pieces,  husband,  wife  and  children  are  separated, 
and  celibacy  and  prostitution  made  common. 

The  socialist  system  is  not  calculated  to  check 
economic  development;  it  will,  on  the  contrary, 
give  it  a  new  impulse.  This  development  will 
continue  to  draw  from  the  circle  of  household 
duties  and  turn  into  special  industries  one  occu- 
pation after  another.  That  this  cannot  fail  to 
have  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  its  effect  on 
the  sphere  of  woman  is  self-evident;  womaw 
will  cease  to  be  a  worker  in  the  individual  house- 
hold, and  will  take  her  place  as  a  worker  ik 
the  large  industries.  But  this  change  will  not 
be  to  her  then,  as  it  is  today,  a  mere  transitio« 


128  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

from  household  slavery  to  wage  slavery;  it  will 
not,  as  it  does  today,  hurl  her  from  the  protection 
of  her  home  into  the  most  exposed  and  helpless 
section  of  the  proletariat.  By  working  side  by, 
side  with  man  in  the  great  co-operative  industries 
woman  will  become  his  equal  and  will  take  an 
equal  part  in  the  community  Hfe.  She  will  be 
his  free  companion,  emancipated  not  only  from 
the  servitude  of  the  house,  but  also  from  that  of 
capitalism.  Mistress  of  herself,  the  equal  of 
man,  she  will  quickly  put  an  end  to  all  prosti- 
tution, legal  and  well  as  illegal.  For  the  first 
time  in  histoiy  monogamy  will  become  a  real, 
rather  than  a  fictitious,  institution. 

These  are  no  Utopian  suggestions,  but  scientific 
conclusions  based  on  definite  facts.  Whoever 
wishes  to  overthrow  them  must  prove  the 
facts  non-existent.  Since  this  cannot  be  done, 
there  remains  nothing  for  the  ladies  and  gentle- 
men who  wish  to  know  nothing  of  this  phase  of 
our  development  than  to  become  indignant  and 
prove  their  morality  by  all  manner  of  lies  and 
misrepresentations.  But  all  their  demonstrations 
will  not  delay  our  inevitable  evolution  a  single 
moment. 

This  much  is  certain :  whatever  alteration  the 
traditional  form  of  the  family  may  undergo, 
it  will  not  be  the  act  of  socialism  or  of  the  social- 
ist system  of  production,  but  of  the  economic 
development  that  has  been  going  on  for  the 
last  century.  Socialist  society  cannot  retard 
this  development ;  what  it  will  do  is  to  remove 
from  the  economic  development  all  the  painful 
and   degrading   features   that   are   its   inevitable 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     129 

accompaniments  under  the  capitalist  system  of 
production.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  under  the 
capitalist  system  of  production  the  economic  de- 
velopment is  steadily  snapping,  one  after  an- 
other, the  family  bonds  and  destroying  family 
life,  under  the  socialist  system  of  production, 
on  the  other  hand,  whatever  existing  family  form 
may  disappear,  can  be  replaced  only  by  a  higher. 

8.     Confiscation  of  Property. 

Our  opponents,  who  know  better  than  we  what 
we  want  and  can  picture  with  greater  accuracy 
the  future  state,  also  declare  that  socialism  can 
never  come  into  power  except  through  a  whole- 
sale confiscation  of  property,  confiscation  without 
compensation  not  only  of  house  and  farm,  but 
of  superfluous  furniture  and  savings  bank  de- 
posits. Next  to  the  charge  of  intending  to  forci- 
l3ly  dissolve  all  family  ties,  this  is  the  trump  card 
played  against  us. 

The  program  of  the  Socialist  Party  has  noth- 
ing to  say  about  confiscation.  Jt  does  not  men- 
tion it.  not  from  fear  of  giving  offense,  but  be- 
cause it  is  a  subject  upon  which  nothing  can  be 
said  with  certainty.  The  only  thing  that  can  be 
declared  with  certainty  is  that  the  tendency  of 
economic  development  renders  imperative  the 
social  ownership  and  operation  of  the  means  of 
large  producti9n.  In  what  way  this  transfer 
from  private  and  individual  into  collective  own- 
ership will  be  effected,  whether  this  inevitable 
transfer  will  take  the  form  of  confiscation, 
whether  it  will  be  a  peaceable  or  a  forcible  one 
— these  are  questions  no  man  can  answer.    Past 


> 

130  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

experience  throws  little  light  on  this  matter. 
The  transition  may  be  effected,  as  was  that  from 
feudalism  to  capitalism,  in  as  many  different 
ways  as  there  are  different  countries.  The  man- 
ner of  the  transition  depends  wholly  upon  the 
general  circumstances  under  which  it  is  effected, 
the  power  and  enlightenment  of  the  classes  con- 
cerned, for  instance,  all  of  them  circumstances 
that  cannot  be  calculated  for  the  future.  In 
historical  development  the  unexpected  plays  the 
most  prominent  role. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  Socialist  Party 
wishes  this  unavoidable  expropriation  of  large 
industry  to  be  effected  with  as  little  friction  as 
possible,  in  a  peaceful  way,  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  whole  people.  But  the  historical  de- 
velopment will  take  its  course  regardless  of  the 
wishes  of  either  socialists  or  their  adversaries. 

In  no  case  can  it  be  said  that  the  carrying  out 
of  the  socialist  program  demands  under  all  cir- 
cumstances that  the  property  whose  expropria- 
tion has  become  necessary,  will  be  confiscated. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  be  said  with  certainty 
that  economic  development  can  render  necessary 
the  confiscation  of  only  a  part  of  existing  prop- 
erty. The  economic  development  demands  social 
ownership  of  the  implements  of  labor  only;  it 
does  not  concern  itself  with  the  part  of  property 
that  is  devoted  to  personal  and  private  uses. 
This  is  applicable  not  only  to  food,  furniture, 
etc.  We  recall  what  was  said  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter about  savings  banks.  They  are  the  means 
whereby  the  private  property  of  the  non-capi- 
talist classes  is  rendered  accessible  to  capitaHsts. 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE   FUTURE     131 

The  deposits  of  every  single  depositor,  taken 
separately,  are  too  insignificant  to  be  applied  to 
capitalist  industry;  not  until  many  deposits  have 
been  gathered  together  are  they  in  a  condition 
to  fulfill  the  function  of  capital.  In  the  measure 
in  which  capitalist  undertakings  pass  from  pri- 
vate into  social  concerns,  the  opportunities  will 
be  lessened  for  patrons  of  savings  banks  to 
draw  interest  upon  their  deposits;  these  will 
cease  to  be  capital  and  will  become  merely  non- 
interest-bearing  funds.  But  this  is  a  very  differ- 
ent thing  from  the  confiscation  of  savings  bank 
deposits. 

The  confiscation  of  such  property  is,  moreover, 
not  only  economically  unnecessary  but  politically 
improbable.  These  small  deposits  come  mainly 
from  the  pockets  of  the  exploited  classes,  from 
those  classes  to  whose  efforts  the  introduction 
of  socialism  will  be  due.  Only  those  who  con- 
sider these  classes  to  be  utterly  unreliable  can 
believe  that  they  would  begin  by  robbing  them- 
selves of  their  hard-earned  savings  in  order  to 
regain  possession  of  the  means  of  production. 

But  not  only  does  the  introduction  of  socialist 
production  not  require  the  expropriation  of  non- 
productive wealth,  it  does  not  even  require  the 
expropriation  of  all  property  in  the  means  of 
production. 

That  which  renders  the  socialist  society  neces- 
sary is  large  production.  Co-operative  produc- 
tion requires  also  co-operative  ownership  in  the 
means  of  production.  But  just  as  private  prop- 
erty in  the  means  of  production  is  irreconcila- 
ble with  co-operati'^e  work  in  large  industry,  so 


132  THE   CLASS   STKUGGuK 

co-operative  or  social  ownership  in  che  mea^is 
of  production  is  irreconcilable  with  small  pro- 
duction. This  requires,  as  we  have  seen,  pnvate 
ownership  in  the  means  of  production.  T'ne  aim 
of  socialism  is  to  place  the  worker  in  possession 
of  the  necessary  means  of  production.  The  ex- 
propriation of  the  means  of  production  in  small 
industry  would  mean  merely  the  senseless  pro- 
ceeding of  taking  them  from  their  present  owner 
and  returning  them  again  to  him. 

Accordingly,  the  transition  to  the  socialist 
society  does  not  at  all  require  the  expropriation 
of  the  small  artisan  and  the  small  farmer.  This 
transition  not  only  will  deprive  them  of  nothing, 
but  it  will  bring  them  many  advantages.  Since 
the  tendency  of  socialist  society  is  to  substitute 
production  for  use  for  production  for  sale,  il 
must  be  its  endeavor  to  transform  all  social  dues 
(taxes,  interest  upon  mortgages  on  property 
that  has  been  nationalized,  etc.,  so  far  as  these 
may  have  been  not  wholly  aboHshed)  front 
money  payments  into  payments  in  products^ 
But  this  means  the  raising  of  a  tremendous  bur- 
den from  the  farmer.  In  many  ways  that  is 
what  he  is  striving  for  today,  but  it  is  impossible 
under  the  supremacy  of  production  for  sale. 
Only  the  socialist  society  can  bring  it,  and  with 
it  remove  the  main  cause  of  the  ruin  of  the  farm- 
ing im^iustry. 

It  is  the  capitalists  who  expropriate  the  farm- 
ers and  artisans.  Socialist  society  puts  an  end 
to  this  expropriation. 

Certainly,  socialism  will  not  put  an  end  to 
economic  development.     On  the  contrary,  it   %s 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE   FUTURE     133 

the  only  means  to  ensure  its  progress  beyond  a 
certain  point.  In  socialist  society  as  in  society 
today  large  industry  will  develop  more  and  more 
and  increasingly  absorb  small  industry.  But 
here,  too,  the  same  conclusion  holds  good  as  in 
the  case  of  the  family  and  marriage.  The  di- 
rection of  the  evolution  remains  the  same,  but 
socialism  removes  all  the  painful  and  shocking 
manifestations  that  under  the  present  system  are 
the  accompaniments  of  the  social  evolution. 

Today  the  transformation  of  the  small  farmer 
and  the  small  producer  from  workers  in  the 
field  of  small  production  to  workers  in  the  field 
of  large  production  means  their  transformation 
from  property-holders  into  proletarians.  In  a 
socialist  society  a  farmer  or  artisan  who  becomes 
a  worker  in  a  large  socialized  industry  will  be- 
come a  sharer  in  all  the  advantages  of  large  in- 
dustry ;  his  condition  is  plainly  bettered.  His 
transition  from  large  to  small  industry  is  no 
more  to  be  compared  with  the  change  from  a 
property-holder  to  a  proletarian,  but  rather  to 
the  transformation  of  a  small  property-holder 
into  a  large  property-holder. 

Small  production  is  doomed  to  disappear.  Only 
the  socialist  system  can  make  it  possible  for 
farmers  and  handicraftmen  to  become  partici- 
pants in  the  advantages  of  large  production  with- 
out sinking  into  the  proletariat.  Only  under  the 
socialist  system  can  the  inevitable  downfall  of 
the  small  producer,  industrial  and  agricultural, 
result  in  an  improvement  of  their  condition. 

The  mainspring  of  economic  development  will 
no  longer  be  the  competition  which  grinds  down 


134  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

and  expropriates  those  who  fall  behind,  it  will 
be  the  power  of  attraction  which  the  more  highly 
developed  forms  of  production  exercise  upon 
the  less  developed  ones. 

A  development  of  this  sort  is  not  only  pain- ' 
less,  it  proceeds  much  more  rapidly  than  thai 
brought  out  by  the  spur  of  competition.  Today, 
when  the  introduction  of  new  and  higher  forms 
of  production  is  impossible  without  ruining  and 
expropriating  the  owners  of  industries  carried 
on  under  inferior  forms,  and  without  inflicting 
suffering  and  privation  upon  the  large  masses 
of  workers  who  have  become  through  this  means 
superfluous,  every  economic  progress  is  doggedly 
resisted.  We  see  on  all  sides  instances  of  the 
tenacity  with  which  producers  cling  to  antiquated 
forms  of  production,  and  of  their  desperate  ef- 
forts to  preserve  them.  Never  yet  was  any  sys- 
tem of  production  known  so  revolutionary  as  the 
present  one ;  never  did  any  revolutionize  so  com- 
pletely within  the  space  of  a  hundred  years  all 
human  activities.  And  yet  how  many  ancient 
ruins  of  antiquated,  out-lived  forms  of  produc- 
tion still  exist! 

Just  as  soon  as  the  fear  disappears  of  being 
thrown  into  the  proletariat  if  an  independent 
industry  is  abandoned;  just  as  soon  as  the  pres- 
ent prejudices  against  large  production  disappear 
because  of  the  advantages  which  the  social  own- 
ership of  large  production  will  bestow  upon  all ; 
just  as  soon  as  it  is  possible  for  everyone  to 
share  these  advantages,  only  fools  will  strive  to 
preserve  antiquated  forms  of  production. 

What  capitalist  large  production  has  not  ac- 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     135 

coraplished  within  a  hundred  years,  socialist  large 
production  will  bring  about  within  a  short  time, 
the  absorption  of  outgrown  small  production. 
It  will  accomplish  this  without  expropriation, 
through  the  attractive  power  of  improved  in- 
dustrial methods.  In  places  where  agricultural 
production  is  still  not  production  for  sale,  but 
prevailingly  production  for  use,  small  farming 
will  perhaps  continue  for  some  time  under  the 
socialist  society.  In  the  end  the  advantages  of 
co-operative  large  production  will  be  discerned 
in  these  districts  also.  The  change  from  small 
to  large  production  in  agriculture  will  be  hastened 
and  made  easy  by  the  steadily  progressing  dis- 
appearance of  the  contrast  between  city  and  coun- 
try, and  by  the  tendency  to  locate  industries  in 
rural  districts. 

9.    Division  of  Products  in  the  Future  State. 

There  is  still  a  point,  the  most  important  of 
all,  that  should  be  touched  upon.  The  first  ques- 
tion which  is  put  to  a  socialist  is  usually:  How 
will  you  go  about  the  division  of  wealth?  Shall 
each  have  an  equal  share? 

"Dividing  up !"  That  sticks  in  the  crop  of  the 
Philistine.  Their  whole  conception  of  socialism 
begins  and  ends  with  that  word.  Indeed,  even 
among  the  cultured  the  idea  prevails  that  the 
object  of  socialism  is  to  divide  the  whole  wealth 
of  the  nation  among  the  people. 

That  this  view  still  prevails,  despite  all  pro- 
tests and  proofs  on  the  part  of  socialists,  is  to 
be  ascribed  not  only  to  the  malice  of  our  oppo- 
nents, but  also,  and  perhaps  to  a  greater  extent, 


136  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

to  their  inability  to  understand  the  social  con- 
ditions that  have  been  created  by  the  develop- 
ment of  large  production.  Their  horizon  is  still, 
to  a  great  extent,  bounded  by  the  conceptions 
that  belong  only  to  small  production.  From  the 
standpoint  of  small  production  ''dividing  up"  is 
the  only  possible  form  of  socialism.  The  notion 
of  dividing  has  long  been  familiar  to  the  small 
business  man  and  farmer.  From  the  beginning 
of  production  for  sale  in  antiquity,  it  has  hap- 
pened innumerable  times  that  as  soon  as  a  few 
families  had  heaped  up  great  wealth  and  reduced 
farmers  and  artisans  to  a  state  of  dependence, 
these  latter  rose  in  rebellion  and  attempted  to  im- 
prove their  condition  through  the  expulsion  of 
the  rich  and  the  division  of  their  property.  They 
succeeded  in  this  for  the  first  time  during  the 
French  Revolution,  which  laid  such  stress  on 
the  rights  of  private  property.  Peasants,  artisans 
and  the  class  that  was  about  to  develop  into  capi- 
talists, divided  among  themselves  the  church 
estates.  "Dividing  up"  is  the  socialism  of  small 
production,  the  socialism  of  the  conservative 
ranks  of  society,  not  the  socialism  of  the  pro- 
letariat engaged  in  large  industry. 

Socialists  do  not  propose  to  divide :  on  the 
contrary,  their  object  is  to  concentrate  in  the 
hands  of  society  the  instruments  of  production 
that  are  now  scattered  in  the  hands  of  various 
owners. 

But  this  does  not  dispose  of  the  question  of 
"dividing  up."  If  the  means  of  production  be- 
long to  society,  to  it  must  belong  also,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  the  function  of  disposing  of  the  prod- 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     137 

,(icts  that  are  brought  forth  by  the  use  of  these 
means.  In  what  way  will  society  distribute  these 
among  its  members  ?  Shall  it  be  according  to  the 
principle  of  equality  or  according  to  the  labor 
performed  by  each?  And  in  the  latter  case,  is 
every  kind  of  labor  to  receive  the  same  reward, 
whether  it  be  pleasant  or  unpleasant,  hard  or 
easy,  skilled  or  unskilled? 

The  answer  to  this  question  seems  to  be  the 
central  point  of  socialism.  Not  only  does  it 
greatly  preoccupy  the  opponents  of  socialism,  but 
even  the  early  socialists  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
attention  to  it.  From  Fourier  to  Weitling  and 
from  Weitling  to  Bellamy,  there  runs  a  steady 
stream  of  the  most  diversified  answers,  many  of 
which  reveal  a  wonderful  cleverness.  There  is 
no  lack  of  positive  propositions,  many  of  which 
are  as  simple  as  they  are  practicable.  Neverthe- 
less, the  question  has  not  the  importance  gener- 
ally ascribed  to  it. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  distribution  of 
products  was  looked  upon  as  wholly  independent 
of  production.  Since  the  contradictions  and  ills 
of  the  capitalist  system  manifest  themselves  first 
in  its  peculiar  method  of  distributing  its  products. 
it  was  quite  natural  that  the  exploited  classes  and 
their  friends  should  have  found  the  root  of  all 
evil  in  the  "unjust"  distribution  of  products. 
Of  course,  they  proceeded,  in  accordance  with 
the  ideas  prevalent  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  upon  the  supposition  that  the  ex- 
isting system  of  distribution  was  the  result  of  the 
ideas  of  the  day,  especially  of  the  legal  system 
in  force.     In  order  to  remove  this  unjust  distri- 


138  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

bution,  all  that  was  needed  was  to  invent  a  juster 
one,  and  to  convince  the  world  of  its  advantages. 
The  just  system  could  be  no  other  than  the  re- 
verse of  the  existing  one.  "Today  the  grossest 
inequality  rules ;  the  principle  upon  which  distri- 
bution should  be  based  must  be  one  of  equality." 
Today  the  idler  rolls  in  wealth  while  the  laborer 
starves,  so  others  said :  "To  each  according  to 
his  deeds"  (or  in  newer  form,  "To  each  the 
product  of  his  labor").  But  doubts  arose  as  to 
both  these  formulas,  and  so  arose  a  third:  "To 
each  according  to  his  needs." 

Since  then  socialists  have  come  to  realize  that 
the  distribution  of  products  in  a  community  is 
determined,  not  by  the  prevailing  legal  system, 
but  by  the  prevailing  system  of  production.  The 
share  of  the  landlord,  the  capitalist  and  the  wage- 
earner  in  the  total  product  of  society  is  deter- 
mined by  the  part  which  land,  capital  and  labor- 
power  play  in  the  present  system  of  production. 
Certainly  in  a  socialist  society  the  distribution 
of  products  will  not  be  left  to  the  working  of 
blind  laws  concerning  the  operation  of  which 
those  concerned  are  unconscious.  As  today  in 
a  large  industrial  establishment  production  and 
the  payment  of  wages  are  carefully  regulated, 
so  in  a  socialist  society,  which  is  nothing  more 
than  a  single  gigantic  industrial  concern,  the 
same  principle  must  prevail.  The  rules  accord- 
ing to  which  the  distribution  of  products  is  to 
be  carried  out  will  be  established  by  those  con- 
cerned. Nevertheless,  it  will  not  depend  upon 
their  pleasure  what  these  rules  shall  be;  they 
will  not  be  adopted  arbitrarily  according  to  this 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     139 

or  that  "principle,"  they  will  be  determined  by 
the  actual  conditions  of  society  and,  above  all,  by 
the  conditions  of  production. 

For  instance,  the  degree  of  productivity  of 
labor,  at  any  given  time,  exercises  a  great  in- 
fluence upon  the  manner  in  which  distribution  is 
effected.  We  can  conceive  a  time  when  science 
shall  have  raised  industry  to  such  a  high  level 
of  productivity  that  everything  wanted  by  man 
will  be  produced  in  great  abundance.  In  such 
a  case,  the  formula,  "To  each  according  to  his 
needs,"  would  be  applied  as  a  matter  of  course 
and  without  difficulty.  On  the  other  hand,  not 
even  the  profoundest  conviction  of  the  justice 
of  this  formula  would  be  able  to  put  it  into 
practice  if  the  productivity  of  labor  remained 
so  low  that  the  proceeds  of  the  most  excessive 
toil  could  produce  only  the  bare  necessities. 
Again,  the  formula,  "To  each  according  to  his 
deeds,"  will  always  be  found  inapplicable.  If  it 
has  any  meaning  at  all,  it  presupposes  a  distribu- 
tion of  the  total  product  of  the  commonwealth 
among  its  members.  This  notion,  like  that  of  a 
general  division  with  which  the  socialist  regime 
is  to  be  ushered  in,  springs  from  the  modes  of 
thought  that  are  peculiar  to  the  modern  system 
of  private  property.  To  distribute  all  products 
at  stated  intervals  would  be  equivalent  to  the 
gradual  reintroduction  of  private  property  in 
the  means  of  production. 

The  very  principle  of  socialist  production  limits 
the  possible  distribution  to  only  a  portion  of  the 
products.  All  those  products  which  are  requisite 
to""  the  enlargement  of  production  cannot,  as  a 


140  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

matter  of  course,  be  the  subject  of  distribution; 
and  the  same  holds  good  with  regard  to  all  such 
products  as  are  intended  for  common  use,  i.  c, 
for  the  establishment,  preservation  or  enlarge- 
ment of  public  institutions. 

Already  in  modern  society  the  number  and 
size  of  such  institutions  increases  steadily.  It  is 
in  this  domain  especially  that  large  production 
crowds  down  small  production.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  so  far  from  being  checked,  this  de- 
velopment will  be  greatly  stimulated  in  a  socialist 
society. 

The  quantity  of  products  that  can  be  absorbed 
by  private  consumption  and,  accordingly,  be 
turned  into  private  property,  must  inevitably  be 
a  much  smaller  portion  of  the  total  product  in 
a  socialist,  than  in  modern,  society,  where  almost 
all  the  products  are  merchandise  and  private 
property.  In  socialist  society  it  is  not  the  bulk 
of  the  products,  but  only  the  residue,  that  is 
distributed. 

But  even  this  residue  socialist  society  will  not 
be  able  to  dispose  of  at  will ;  there,  too,  the  re- 
quirements of  production  will  determine  the 
course  to  be  pursued.  Such  production  is  un- 
dergoing steady  changes ;  the  forms  and  methods 
of  distribution  will  be  subject  to  manifold 
changes  in  a  socialist  society. 

It  is  entirely  Utopian  to  imagine  that  a  special 
system  of  distribution  is  to  be  manufactured, 
and  that  it  will  stand  for  all  time.  In  this  mat- 
ter, as  little  as  any  other,  is  socialist  society  likely 
to  move  by  leaps  and  bounds,  or  start  all  over 
anew;  it  will  go  on   from  the  point  at  which 


rHE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     141 

capitalist  society  ceases.  The  distribution  of 
goods  in  a  socialist  society  might  possibly  con- 
tinue for  some  time  under  forms  that  are  essen- 
tially developments  of  the  existing  system  of 
wage-payment.  At  any  rate,  this  is  the  point 
from  which  it  is  bound  to  start.  Just  as  the  forms 
of  wage-labor  differ  today,  not  only  from  time 
to  time,  but  also  in  various  branches  of  industry, 
and  in  various  sections  of  the  country,  so  also 
may  it  happen  that  in  a  socialist  society  the  dis- 
tribution of  products  may  be  carried  on  under 
a  variety  of  forms  corresponding  to  the  various 
needs  of  the  population  and  the  historical  ante- 
cedents of  the  industry.  We  must  not  think  of 
the  socialist  society  as  something  rigid  and  uni- 
form, but  rather  as  an  organism,  constantly  de- 
veloping, rich  in  possibilities  of  change,  an  or- 
ganism that  is  to  develop  naturally  from  increas- 
ing division  of  labor,  commercial  exchange,  and 
the  dominance  of  society  by  science  and  art. 

Next  to  the  thought  of  "dividing  up,"  that 
of  "equal  shares"  troubles  the  foes  of  socialism 
most.  "Socialism,"  they  declare,  "proposes  that 
everyone  shall  have  an  equal  share  of  the  total 
product ;  the  industrious  is  to  have  no  more  than 
the  lazy;  hard  and  disagreeable  labor  is  to  re- 
ceive no  higher  reward  than  that  which  is  light 
and  agreeable ;  the  hod-carrier  who  has  nothing 
to  do  but  carry  the  material  is  to  be  on  a  par 
with  the  architect  himself.  Under  such  circum- 
stances everyone  will  work  as  little  as  possible ; 
no  one  will  perform  the  hard  and  disagreeable 
tasks;  knowledge,  having  ceased  to  be  appreci- 
ated, will  cfease  to  be  cultivated ;  and  the  final 


142  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

result  will  be  the  relapse  of  society  into  barbafv 
ism.     Consequently,  socialism  is  impracticable." 

The  fallacy  of  this  reasoning  is  too  glaring  to 
need  exposure.  This  much  may  be  said :  Should 
sociaHst  society  ever  decide  to  decree  equality  of 
incomes,  and  should  the  effect  of  such  a  measure 
threaten  to  be  the  dire  one  prophesied,  the  natural 
result  would  be,  not  that  socialist  production,  but 
that  the  principle  of  equality  of  incomes,  would 
be  thrown  overboard. 

The  foes  of  socialism  would  be  justified  in 
concluding  from  the  equality  of  incomes  that 
socialism  is  impracticable  if  they  could  prove:    . 

(1)  That  this  equality  would  be  under  all 
circumstances  irreconcilable  with  the  progress  of 
production.  This  they  never  have,  and  never 
can,  prove,  because  the  activity  of  the  individual 
in  production  does  not  depend  solely  upon  his 
remuneration,  but  upon  a  great  variety  of  cir- 
cumstances— his  sense  of  duty,  his  ambition,  his 
dignity,  his  pride,  etc. — none  of  which  can  be 
the  subject  of  positive  prophecy,  but  only  of  con- 
jecture, a  conjecture  which  makes  against,  and 
not  for,  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  opponents 
of  socialism. 

(2)  That  the  equality  of  incomes  is  so  es- 
sential to  a  socialist  society  that  the  latter  cannot 
be  conceived  without  the  former.  The  oppo- 
nents of  socialism  will  find  it  equally  impossible 
to  prove  this.  A  glance  over  the  various  forms 
of  communist  production  from  the  primitive 
communism  down  to  the  latest  communist  socie- 
ties will  reveal  how  manifold  are  the  forms  of 
distribution  that  are  applicable  to  a  community 


THE   COMMq;NWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     143 

of  property  in  the  instruments  of  production. 
All  forms  'of  modern  wage-payment-fixed  sala- 
ries, piece  wages,  time  wages,  bonuses — all  of 
them  are  reconcilable  with  the  spirit  of  a  social- 
ist society;  and  there  is  not  one  of  them  that 
may  not  play  a  role  in  socialist  society,  as  the 
wants  and  customs  of  its  members,  together  with 
the  requirements  of  production,  may  demand. 

It  does  not,  however,  follow  from  this  that 
the  principle  of  equality  of  incomes — not  neces- 
sarily identical  with  their  uniformity — will  play 
no  part  in  socialist  society.  What  is  certain  is 
that  it  will  do  so  not  as  the  aim  of  a  movement 
for  leveling  things  generally,  forcibly,  artificially, 
biit  as  the  result  of  a  natural  development,  a 
social  tendency. 

In  the  capitalist  system  of  production  there 
exist  two  tendencies,  one  to  increase  and  the 
other  to  decrease  the  differences  in  incomes ; 
one  to  increase,  one  to  diminish  inequality.  By 
dissolving  the  middle  classes  of  society  and  swell- 
ing constantly  the  size  of  individual  fortunes  the 
capitalist  system  broadens  and  deepens  the  chasm 
that  exists  between  the  masses  of  the  population 
and  those  who  are  at  its  head,  the  latter  tower 
higher  and  higher  above  the  former.  Together 
with  this  tendency,  is  noticed  another,  which, 
operating  within  the  circle  of  the  masses  them- 
selves, steadily  equalizes  their  incomes.  It  flings 
the  small  producers,  farmers  and  manufacturers, 
into  the  class  of  the  proletariat,  or  at  least,  pushes 
their  incomes  down  to  the  proletarian  level,  and 
wipes  out  existing  differences  among  the  pro- 
letarians themselves.    The  machine  tends  steadily 


144  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

to  remove  all  differences  which  originally  ap- 
peared in  the  proletariat.  Today  the  differences 
in  wages  among  the  various  strata  of  labor  fluct- 
uate incessantly  and  come  nearer  and  nearer  to 
a  point  of  uniformity.  At  the  same  time,  the 
incomes  of  the  educated  proletariat  are  irresist- 
ibly tending  downward.  The  equalization  of  in- 
comes among  the  masses — that  which  the  oppo- 
nents of  socialism,  with  the  greatest  moral  in- 
dignation, brand  as  the  purpose  of  socialism — 
is  going  on  before  their  eyes  in  the  society  of 
today. 

Under  the  socialist  system,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  all  those  tendencies  that  sharpen  in- 
equalities and  that  proceed  from  private  owner- 
ship in  the  means  of  production,  would  come  to 
an  end.  On  the  other  hand,  the  tendency  to 
wipe  out  inequalities  of  incomes  would  find 
stronger  expression.  But  here,  again,  the  obser- 
vations made  upon  the  dissolution  of  existing 
family  forms  and  the  downfall  of  small  produc- 
tion hold  good.  The  tendency  of  economic  de- 
velopment remains  in  socialist,  as  in  capitalist,  so- 
ciety, but  it  finds  a  very  different  expression.  To- 
day the  equalization  of  incomes  among  the  mass 
of  the  population  proceeds  by  the  depression  of 
the  higher  incomes  to  the  level  of  the  lower  ones. 
In  a  socialist  society  it  must  inevitably  proceed  by 
the  raising  of  the  lower  to  the  standard  of  the 
higher. 

The  opponents  of  socialism  seek  to  frighten 
the  small  producers  and  the  working-men  with 
the  claim  that  equalization  of  incomes  can  mean 
for  them  nothing  else  than  a  lowering  of  their 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE    FUTURE     145 

condition,  because,  they  say,  the  incomes  of  the 
wealthy  classes  are  not  sufficient,  if  divided 
among  the  poor,  to  preserve  the  present  average 
income  of  the  working  and  middle  classes ;  con- 
sequently, if  there  is  to  be  an  equality  of  incomes, 
the  upper  classes  of  workers  and  the  small  pro- 
ducers will  have  to  give  up  part  of  their  in- 
comes, and  will  thus  be  the  losers  under  social- 
ism.. 

Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in  this  claim 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  wretchedly  poor,  espe- 
cially the  slum  proletariat,  are  today  so  numer- 
ous and  their  need  so  great  that  to  divide  among 
them  the  immense  incomes  of  the  rich  would 
scarcely  be  enough  to  make  possible  for  them 
the  existence  of  a  worker  of  the  better-paid 
class.  Whether  this  is  a  sufficient  reason  for 
preserving  our  glorious  social  system  may  very 
well  be  doubted.  We  are  of  the  opinion,  how- 
ever, that  a  diminution  of  the  misery,  which 
would  be  accomplished  through  such  a  division, 
would  mean  a  step  forward. 

There  is,  however,  no  question  of  "dividing 
up" ;  the  only  question  is  concerning  a  change 
in  the  method  of  production.  The  transforma- 
tion of  the  capitalist  system  of  production  into 
the  socialist  system  of  production  must  inevitably 
result  in  a  rapid  increase  of  the  quantity  of  wealth 
produced.  It  must  never  be  lost  sight  of  that 
the  capitalist  system  of  production  for  sale 
hinders  today  the  progress  of  economic  develop- 
ment, hinders  the  full  expansion  of  the  productive 
forces  that  lie  latent  in  society.  Not  only  is  it 
unable  to  absorb  the  small  industries  as  rapidly 


146  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

as  the  technical  development  makes  possible 
and  desirable,  but  it  has  even  become  impossible 
for  it  to  employ  all  the  labor  forces  that  are 
available.  The  capitalist  system  of  production 
squanders  these  forces ;  it  steadily  drives  increas- 
ing numbers  of  workers  into  the  ranks  of  the 
unemployed,  the  slum  proletariat,  the  parasites 
and  the  unproductive  middlemen. 

Such  a  state  of  things  would  be  impossible 
in  a  socialist  society.  It  could  not  fail  to  find 
productive  labor  for  all  its  available  labor  forces. 
It  would  increase,  it  might  even  double,  the 
number  of  productive  workers ;  in  the  measure 
in  which  it  did  this  it  would  multiply  the  total 
wealth  produced  yearly.  This  increase  in  pro- 
duction would  be  enough  in  itself  to  raise  the 
incomes  of  all  workers,  not  only  of  the  poorest 

Furthermore,  since  socialist  production  would 
promote  the  absorption  of  small  production  by 
large  production  and  thus  increase  the  productiv- 
ity of  labor,  it  would  be  possible,  not  only  to 
raise  the  incomes  of  the  workers,  but  also  to 
shorten  the  hours  of  labor. 

In  view  of  this,  it  is  foolish  to  claim  that 
socialism  means  the  equality  of  pauperism.  This 
is  not  the  equality  of  socialism ;  it  is  the  equality 
of  the  modern  system  of  production.  Socialist 
production  must  inevitably  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  all  the  working  classes,  including  the 
small  industrialist  and  the  small  farmer.  Ac- 
cording to  the  economic  conditions  under  which 
the  change  from  capitalism  to  socialism  is  ef- 
fected this  improvement  will  be  greater  or  less, 
but  in  any  case  it  will  be  marked.     And  every 


THE   COMMONWliALTH    OF   THE   FUTURE     147 

economic  advance  beyon^i  that  will  produce  an 
increase,  and  not,  as  today,  a  decrease,  in  the 
general  well-being. 

This  change  in  the  tend<;ncy  of  incomes  is,  in 
the  eyes  of  socialists,  of  much  more  importance 
than  the  absolute  increase  of  incomes.  The 
thoughtful  man  lives  more  in  the  future  than  in 
the  present;  what  the  future  threatens  or  prom- 
ises preoccupies  him  more  than  the  enjoyment 
of  the  present.  Not  what  is,  but  what  will  be, 
not  existing  conditions,  but  tendencies,  deter- 
mine the  happiness  both  of  individuals  and  oi 
whole  states. 

Thus  we  become  acquainted  with  another  ele- 
ment of  superiority  in  socialist  over  capitalist 
society.  It  affords,  not  only  a  greater  well-being, 
but  also  certainty  of  livelihood — a  security  that 
today  the  greatest  fortune  cannot  guarantee. 
If  greater  well-being  affects  only  those  who  have 
hitherto  been  exploited,  security  of  livelihood  is 
a  boon  to  the  present  exploiters,  whose  well-being 
demands  no  improvement  or  is  capable  of  none. 
Uncertainty  hovers  over  both  rich  and  poor,  and 
it  is,  perhaps,  more  trying  than  want  itself.  In 
imagination  it  forces  those  to  taste  the  bitter- 
ness of  want  who  are  not  yet  subject  to  it;  it  is 
a  specter  that  haunts  the  palaces  of  the  wealth- 
iest. 

All  observers  who  have  become  acquainted 
with  communist  societies,  whether  they  were 
situated  in  India,  France  or  America,  have  been 
struck  with  the  appearance  of  calmness,  confi- 
dence and  equanimity  peculiar  to  their  members. 
Independent  of  the  oscillations  of  the  market, 


148  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

and  in  possession  of  their  own  instruments  of 
production,  they  are  self-sufficient ;  they  regulate 
their  labor  in  accordance  with  their  needs,  and 
they  know  in  advance  just  what  they  have  to 
expect.  And  yet  the  security  enjoyed  by  these 
communities  is  far  from  being  perfect.  Their 
control  over  nature  is  slight,  the  societies  them- 
selves are  small.  Mishaps  brought  on  by  dis- 
eases of  cattle,  failures  of  crops,  freshets,  etc., 
are  frequent  and  smite  the  whole  body.  Upon 
how  much  firmer  a  basis  would  a  socialist  com- 
munity stand  with  boundaries  co-extensive  with 
those  of  a  nation  and  with  all  the  conquests 
of  science  at  its  command! 

10.     Socialism  and  Freedom. 

That  a  socialist  society  would  afford  its  mem- 
bers comfort  and  security  has  been  admitted  even 
by  many  of  the  opponents  of  socialism.  "But" 
they  say,  "these  advantages  are  bought  at  too 
dear  a  price ;  they  are  paid  for  with  a  total  loss 
of  freedom.  The  bird  in  a  cage  may  have  suf- 
ficient daily  food ;  it  also  is  secure  against  hunger 
and  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather.  But  it  has 
lost  its  freedom,  and  for  that  reason  is  a  pitiful 
thing.  It  yearns  for  a  chance  to  take  its  place 
among  the  dangers  of  the  outside  world,  to  strug- 
gle for  its  own  existence."  They  maintain  that 
socialism  destroys  economic  freedom,  the  free- 
dom of  labor;  that  it  introduces  a  despotism  in 
comparison  with  which  the  most  unrestricted  ab- 
solutism would  be  freedom. 

So  great  is  the  fear  of  this  slavery  that  even 
some   socialists   have   been   seized   with   it,   and 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF  THE   FUTURE     149 

hav'e  become  anarchists.  They  have  as  great  a 
horror  of  communism  as  of  production  for  sale, 
and  they  attempt  to  escape  both  by  seeking  both. 
They  want  to  have  communism  and  produc- 
tion for  sale  together.  Theoretically,  this  is  ab- 
surd; in  practice,  it  could  amount  to  nothing 
more  than  the  establishment  of  voluntary  co- 
operative societies  for  mutual  aid. 

It  is  true  that  socialist  production  is  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  full  freedom  of  labor,  that  is, 
with  the  freedom  of  the  laborer  to  work  when, 
where  and  how  he  wills.  But  this  freedom  of 
the  laborer  is  irreconcilable  with  any  systematic, 
co-operative  form  of  labor,  whether  the  form 
be  capitalist  or  sociaHst.  Freedom  of  labor  is 
possible  only  in  small  production,  and  even  there 
only  up  to  a  certain  point.  Even  where  small 
production  is  freed  from  all  restrictive  regula- 
tions, the  individual  worker  still  remains  a  de- 
pendent on  natural  or  social  conditions;  the 
farmer,  for  example,  on  the  weather,  the  artisan 
on  the  state  of  the  market.  Nevertheless,  small 
production  offers  the  possibility  of  a  certain  de- 
gree of  freedom;  this  is  its  ideal,  the  most  revo- 
lutionary ideal  of  which  the  small  bourgeois  is 
capable.  A  hundred  years  ago  at  the  time  of  the 
French  Revolution  this  ideal  was  based  on  in- 
dustrial conditions.  Today  it  has  no  economic 
basis  and  can  persist  only  in  the  heads  of  people 
who  are  unable  to  perceive  that  an  economic  revo- 
lution has  taken  place.  It  is  not  the  socialist 
who  destroy  this  "freedom  of  labor,"  but  the 
resistless  progress  of  large  production.  The 
very  ones  from  whom  is  heard  most  frequently 


150  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

the  declaration  that  labor  must  be  free  are  the 
capitalists,  those  who  have  contributed  most  to 
overthrow  that  freedom. 

Freedom  of  labor  has  come  to  an  end,  not  only 
in  the  factory,  but  wherever  the  individual 
worker  is  only  a  link  in  a  long  chain  of  workers. 
It  does  not  exist  either  for  the  manual  worker 
or  for  the  brain  worker  employed  in  any  indus- 
try. The  hospital  physician,  the  school  teacher, 
the  railroad  employe,  the  newspaper  writer — 
none  of  these  enjoy  the  freedom  of  labor;  they 
are  all  bound  to  certain  rules,  they  must  all  be 
at  their  post  at  a  certain  hour. 

It  is  true  that  in  one  respect  the  working- 
man  does  enjoy  freedom  under  the  capitalist 
system.  If  the  work  does  not  suit  him  in  one 
factory,  he  is  free  to  seek  work  in  another  ;»he 
can  change  his  employer.  In  a  socialist  com- 
munity, where  all  the  means  of  production  are 
in  a  single  hand,  there  is  but  one  employer;  to 
change  is  impossible. 

In  this  respect  the  wage-earner  today  has  a 
certain  freedom  in  comparison  with  the  worker 
in  a  socialist  society,  but  this  cannot  be  called 
a  freedom  of  labor.  However  frequently  a 
worker  may  change  his  place  of  work  today,  he 
will  not  find  freedom.  In  each  place  the  activi- 
ties of  every  individual  worker  are  defined  and 
regulated.  This  has  become  a  technical  neces- 
sity. 

Accordingly,  the  freedom  with  the  loss  of 
which  the  worker  is  threatened  in  a  socialist 
society  is  not  freedom  of  labor,  but  freedom  to 
choose  his  master.     Under  the  present  system 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF  THE   FUTURE     15J 

this  freedom  is  of  no  slight  importance ;  it  is  a 
protection  to  the  workingman.  But  even  this 
freedom  is  gradually  destroyed  by  the  progress 
of  capitalism.  The  increasing  number  of  the 
unemployed  reduces  constantly  the  number  of 
positions  that  are  open  and  throws  upon  the 
labor  market  more  applicants  than  there  are 
places.  The  idle  workingman  is,  as  a  rule,  happy 
if  he  can  secure  work  of  any  sort.  Furthermore, 
the  increased  concentration  of  the  means  of  pro- 
duction in  a  few  hands  has  a  steady  tendency  to 
place  over  the  workingman  the  same  employer 
or  set  of  employers  whichever  way  he  may  turn. 
Inquiry,  therefore,  shows  that  what  is  decried 
as  the  wicked  and  tyrannical  purpose  of  social- 
ism is  but  the  natural  tendency  of  the  economic 
development  of  modern  society. 

Socialism  will  not,  and  cannot,  check  this  de- 
velopment; but  in  this  as  in  so  many  other  re- 
spects socialism  can  obviate  the  evils  that  accom- 
pany the  development.  It  cannot  remove  the 
dependence  of  the  working-man  upon  the  mech- 
anism of  production  in  which  he  is  one  of  the 
wheels ;  but  it  substitutes  for  the  dependence  of 
a  working-man  upon  a  capitalist  with  interests 
hostile  to  him  a  dependence  upon  a  society  of 
which  he  is  himself  a  member,  a  society  of  equal 
comrades,  all  of  whom  have  the  same  interests. 

It  can  be  easily  understood  why  a  liberal- 
minded  lawyer  or  author  may  consider  such  a 
dependence  unbearable,  but  it  is  not  unbearable 
to  the  modern  proletarian,  as  a  glance  at  the 
trade  union  movement  will  show.  The  organi- 
zations of  labo^-  furnish  a  picture  of  the  "tyr- 


152  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

anny  of  the  socialist  paternal  state"  of  which 
the  opponents  of  socialism  have  so  much  to  say. 
In  the  organizations  of  labor  the  rules  under 
which  each  member  is  to  work  are  laid  down 
minutely  and  enforced  strictly.  Yet  it  has  never 
occurred  to  any  member  of  such  an  organiza- 
tion that  these  rules  were  an  unbearable  restric- 
tion upon  his  personal  liberty.  Those  who  have 
found  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  defend 
the  freedom  of  labor  against  this  "terrorism," 
and  who  have  done  so  often  with  force  of  arms 
and  bloodshed,  were  never  the  working-men,  but 
their  exploiters.  Poor  Freedom !  which  has  to- 
day no  defenders  except  slaveholders ! 

But  in  a  socialist  community  the  lack  of  free- 
dom in  work  would  not  only  lose  its  oppressive 
character,  it  would  also  become  the  foundation 
of  the  highest  freedom  yet  possible  to  man.  This 
seems  a  contradiction,  but  the  contradiction  is 
only  apparent. 

Down  to  the  day  when  large  production  began, 
the  labor  employed  in  the  production  of  the  ne- 
cessities of  life  took  up  the  whole  time  of  those 
engaged  in  it;  it  required  the  fullest  exercise  of 
both  body  and  mind.  This  was  true,  not  only 
of  the  fisherman  and  the  hunter,  but  also  of  the 
farmer,  the  mechanic  and  the  merchant.  The 
existence  of  the  human  being  engaged  in  pro- 
duction was  consumed  almost  wholly  by  his  oc- 
cupation. It  was  labor  that  steeled  his  sinews 
and  nerves,  that  quickened  his  brain  and  made 
him  anxious  to  acquire  knowledge.  But  the  fur- 
ther division  of  labor  was  carried,  the  more  one- 
sided did  it  make  the  producers.    Mind  and  body 


THE   COMMONWEALTH   OF  THE   FUTURE     153 

ceased  to  exercise  themselves  in  a  variety  of  di- 
rections and  to  develop  all  their  powers.  Wholly 
taken  up  by  incomplete  momentary  tasks,  the 
producers  lost  the  capacity  to  comprehend  phe- 
nomena as  organic  wholes.  A  harmonious,  well- 
rounded  development  of  physical  and  mental 
powers,  a  deep  concern  in  the  problems  of  na- 
ture and  society,  a  philosophical  bent  of  mind, 
that  is,  a  searching  for  the  highest  truth  for  its 
own  sake, — none  of  these  could  be  found 
under  such  circumstances,  except  among  those 
classes  who  remained  free  from  the  necessity  of 
toil.  Until  the  commencement  of  the  era  of 
machinery  this  was  possible  only  by  throwing 
upon  others  the  burden  of  labor,  by  exploiting 
them.  The  most  ideal,  the  most  philosophic  race 
that  history  has  yet  known,  the  only  society  of 
thinkers  and  artists  devoted  to  science  and  art 
for  their  own  sakes,  was  the  Athenian  aristoc- 
racy, the  slaveholding  landlords  of  Athens. 

Among  them  all  labor,  whether  slave  or  free, 
was  regarded  as  degrading — and  justly  so.  It 
was  no  presumption  on  the  part  of  Socrates 
when  he  said :  "Traders  and  mechanics  lack 
culture.  They  have  no  leisure,  and  without 
leisure  no  good  education  is  possible.  They  learn 
only  what  their  trade  requires  of  them;  knowl- 
edge in  itself  has  no  attraction  for  them.  They 
take  up  arithmetic  only  for  the  sake  of  trade, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
numbers.  It  is  not  given  to  them  to  strive  for 
higher  things.  The  merchant  and  mechanic  say : 
'The  pleasure  derived  from  honor  and  knowl- 
edge is  of  no  value  when  compared  with  money- 


154  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

making.'  However  skilled  smiths,  carpenters  and 
shoemakers  may  be  at  their  trade,  most  of  them 
are  animated  only  by  the  souls  of  slaves;  they 
knovi^  not  the  true  nor  the  beautiful." 

Economic  development  has  advanced  since 
those  days.  The  division  of  labor  has  reached  a 
point  undreamt  of,  and  the  system  of  produc- 
tion for  sale  has  driven  many  of  the  former  ex- 
ploiters and  people  of  culture  into  the  class  of 
producers.  Like  the  mechdnics  and  farmers,  the 
rich  also  are  wholly  taken  up  with  their  busi- 
ness. They  do  not  now  assemble  in  gymnasiums 
and  academies,  but  in  stock  exchanges  and  mar- 
kets. The  speculations  in  which  they  are  ab- 
sorbed do  not  concern  questions  of  truth  and 
justice,  but  the  prices  of  wool  and  whifkey, 
bonds  and  coupons.  These  are  the  speculations 
that  consume  their  mental  energies.  After  this 
"labor"  they  have  neither  strength  nor  taste  for 
any  but  the  most  commonplace  amusements. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  far  as  the  cultured 
classes  are  concerned,  their  education  has  be- 
come a  merchandise.  They,  too,  have  neither 
time  nor  inclination  for  disinterested  search  for 
truth,  for  striving  after  the  ideal.  Each  buries 
himself  in  his  specialty  and  considers  every  mo- 
ment lost  which  is  spent  in  learning  anything 
which  cannot  be  turned  into  money.  Hence  the 
movement  to  abolish  Greek  and  Latin  from  the 
secondary  schools.  Whatever  the  pedagogic 
grounds  may  be  for  this  movement,  the  leal 
reason  is  the  desire  to  have  the  youth  tau;;^ht 
only  what  is  "useful,"  that  is,  what  can  be  turned 
into   money.     Even   among   scientific   men   and 


THE   COMMONWEALTH   OF  THE   FUTURE     155 

artists  the  instinct  after  a  harmonious  develop- 
ment is  perceptibly  losing  ground.  On  all  sides 
specialists  are  springing  up.  Science  and  art 
are  degraded  to  the  level  of  a  trade.  What  Soc- 
rates said  of  ancient  handicraft  now  holds  good 
of  these  pursuits.  The  philosophic  way  of  look- 
ing at  things  is  on  the  decline — that  is,  within 
the  classes  here  considered. 

In  the  meantime,  a  new  sort  of  labor  has 
sprung  up — machine  labor ;  and  a  new  class — the 
proletariat. 

The  machine  robs  labor  of  all  intellectual  ac- 
tivity. The  working-man  at  a  machine  no  long- 
er needs  to  think ;  all  that  he  has  to  do  is  silently 
to  obey  the  machine.  The  machine  dictates  to 
him  what  he  has  to  do;  he  has  become  an  ap- 
pendage to  it.  What  is  said  of  hand  labor  ap- 
plies also,  though  to  a  slighter  extent,  to  home- 
work and  hand-work  done  in  the  factory.  The 
division  of  labor  in  the  production  of  a  single 
article  among  innumerable  working-men  paves 
the  way  for  the  introduction  of  machinery. 

The  first  result  of  the  monotony  and  absence 
of  intellectual  activity  in  the  work  of  the  pro- 
letarian is  the  apparent  dulling  of  his  mind. 

The  second  result  is  that  he  is  driven  to  re- 
volt against  excessive  hours  of  work.  To  him 
labor  is  not  identical  with  life;  life  commences 
only  when  labor  is  at  an  end.  For  working-men 
to  whom  labor  and  life  were  identical,  freedom 
of  labor  meant  freedom  of  life.  The  working- 
man,  who  lives  only  when  he  does  not  work, 
can  enjoy  a  free  life  only  by  being  free  from 
labor.    As  a  matter  of  course,  the  efforts  of  this 


156  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

class  of  workers  cannot  be  directed  to  freeing 
themselves  from  all  labor.  Labor  is  the  condi- 
tion of  life.  But  their  efforts  will  necessarily 
be  directed  toward  reducing  their  hours  of  labor 
far  enough  to  leave  them  time  to  live. 

This  is  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the 
struggle  on  the  part  of  the  modern  proletariat  to 
shorten  the  hours  of  work,  a  struggle  which 
would  have  had  no  meaning  to  the  farmers  and 
mechanics  of  former  social  systems.  The  strug- 
gle of  the  proletariat  for  shorter  hours  is  not 
aimed  at  economic  advantages,  such  as  a  rise  in 
wages  or  the  reduction  of  the  number  of  unem- 
ployed. The  struggle  for  shorter  hours  is  a 
struggle  for  life. 

But  the  unintellectual  character  of  machine 
work  has  a  third  result.  The  intellectual  pow- 
ers of  the  proletariat  are  not  exhausted  by  their 
labor  as  are  those  of  other  workers ;  they  lie 
fallow  during  work.  For  this  reason  the  crav- 
ing of  the  proletarian  to  exercise  his  mind  out- 
side of  his  hours  of  work  is  just  so  much  the 
stronger.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  phenom- 
ena in  modern  society  is  the  thirst  for  knowledge 
displayed  by  the  proletariat.  While  all  other 
classes  kill  their  time  with  the  most  unintellec- 
tual diversions,  the  proletarian  displays  a  pas- 
sion for  intellectual  culture.  Only  one  who  has 
had  an  opportunity  to  associate  with  the  pro- 
letariat can  fully  realize  the  strength  of  this 
thirst  after  knowledge  and  enlightenment.  But 
even  the  outsider  may  imagine  it,  if  he  com- 
pares the  newspapers,  magazines  and  pamphlets 
of  the  workers  with  the  literature  that  finds  ac- 
ceptance in  other  social  circles. 


THE   COMMONWEALTH    OF   THE   FUTURE     157 

And  this  thirst  for  knowledge  is  entirely  dis- 
interested. Knowledge  cannot  help  the  worker 
at  a  machine  to  increase  his  income.  He  seeks 
truth  for  its  own  sake,  not  for  material  profit. 
Accordingly,  he  does  not  limit  himself  to  any 
one  domain  of  knowledge;  he  tries  to  embrace 
the  whole ;  he  seeks  to  understand  the  whole  of 
society,  the  whole  world.  The  most  difficult 
problems  attract  him  most ;  it  is  often  hard  to 
bring  him  down  from  the  clouds  to  solid  earth. 

It  is  not  the  possesison  of  knowledge  but  the 
effort  to  acquire  it  that  makes  the  philosopher. 
It  is  among  the  despised  and  ignorant  proletariat 
that  the  philosophical  spirit  of  the  brilliant  mem- 
bers of  the  Athenian  aristocracy  is  revived.  But 
the  free  development  of  this  spirit  is  not  possi- 
ble in  modern  society.  The  proletariat  is  with- 
out means  to  instruct  itself;  it  is  deprived  of 
opportunities  for  systematic  study,  it  is  exposed 
to  aSl  the  dangers  and  inconveniences  of  planless 
self-^instruction ;  above  all,  it  lacks  sufficient 
leisnjre.  Science  and  art  remain  to  the  prole- 
tariat a  promised  land  which  it  looks  at  from  a 
distance,  which  it  struggles  to  possess,  but  which 
it  cannot  enter. 

Only  the  triumph  of  Socialism  can  render  ac- 
cessible to  the  proletariat  all  the  sources  of  cul- 
ture. Only  the  triumph  of  socialism  can  make 
possible  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  work  to 
such  a  point  that  the  working-man  can  enjoy 
leisure  enough  to  acquire  adequate  knowledge. 
Th-e  capitalist  system  of  production  wakens  the 
proletarian's  desire  for  knowledge ;  the  socialist 
system  alone  can  satisfy  it. 


158  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

It  is  not  the  freedom  of  labor,  but  the  freedom 
from  labor,  which  in  a  socialist  society  the  use 
of  machinery  makes  increasingly  possible,  that 
will  bring  to  mankind  freedom  of  life,  freedom 
for  artistic  and  intellectual  activity,  freedom  for 
the  noblest  enjoyment. 

That  blessed,  harmonious  culture,  which  has 
only  once  appeared  in  the  history  of  mankind 
and  was  then  the  privilege  of  a  small  body  of  se- 
lect aristocrats,  will  become  the  common  prop- 
erty of  all  civilized  nations.  What  slaves  were 
to  the  ancient  Athenians,  machinery  will  be  to 
modern  man.  Man  will  feel  all  thi^  elevating 
influences  that  flow  from  freedom  from  produc- 
tive toil,  without  being  poisoned  by  the  evil  in- 
fluences which,  through  chattel  slaveiy,  finally 
undermined  the  Athenian  aristocracy.  And  as 
the  modern  means  of  science  and  art  are  vastly 
superior  to  those  of  two  thousand  years  a;9;o,  and 
the  civilization  of  today  overshadows  that  of  the 
little  land  of  Greece,  so  will  the  socialist  com- 
monwealth outshine  in  moral  greatness  ami  ma- 
terial well-being  the  most  glorious  society  that 
history  has  thus  far  known. 

Happy  the  man  to  whom  it  is  given  to  con- 
tribute his  strength  to  the  realization  oi  this 
ideal. 


V.     THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE. 
t.    Socialism  and  the  Ptoperty-Holding  Classes, 

Tne  last  paragraphs  of  our  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples reads  as  follows:  "This  social  transfor- 
mation means  the  liberation,  not  only  of  the  pro- 
letariat, but  of  the  whole  human  race.  Only  the 
working-class,  however,  can  bring  it  about.  All 
other  classes,  despite  their  conflicting  interests, 
maintain  their  existence  on  the  basis  of  the  pri- 
vate ownership  of  the  means  of  production,  and 
therefore  have  a  common  motive  for  supporting 
the  principles  of  the  existing  social  order. 

"The  struggle  of  the  working-class  against 
capitalist  exploitation  is  necessarily  a  political 
struggle.  The  working-class  cannot  develop  its 
economic  organization  and  wage  its  economic 
battles  without  political  rights.  It  cannot  accom- 
plish the  transfer  of  the  means  of  production  to 
the  community  as  a  whole  without  first  having 
come  into  possession  of  political  power, 

"To  make  this  struggle  of  the  workers  con- 
scious and  unified,  to  keep  its  one  great  object 
in  view, — this  is  the  purpose  of  the  Socialist 
Party." 

In  all  lands  where  capitalist  production  pre- 
vails the  interests  of  the  working-class  are  iden- 
tical. With  the  development  of  world-commerce 
and  production  for  the  world-market  the  posi- 
tion of  the  workers  in  each  country  becomes  in- 
creasingly dependent  on  that  of  the  workers  in 

159 


160  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

other  countries.  The  liberation  of  the  working- 
class  is,  therefore,  a  task  in  which  the  workers 
of  all  civilized  lands  are  equally  concerned. 
Being  conscious  of  this  fact  the  Socialist  Party 
proclaims  its  solidarity  with  the  class-conscious 
workers  of  all  lands. 

"The  Socialist  Party,  accordingly,  struggles,  not 
for  any  class  privileges,  but  for  the  abolition  of 
classes  and  class-rule,  for  equal  rights  and  equal 
duties  for  all,  without  distinction  of  sex  or  race. 
In  conformity  with  these  principles  it  opposes  in 
present  day  society,  not  only  the  exploitation  and 
oppression  of  wage-workers,  but  also  every  form 
of  exploitation  and  oppression,  be  it  directed 
against  a  class,  a  party,  a  sex,  or  a  race." 

The  introductory  sentence  of  the  first  of  these 
paragraphs  needs  little  explanation.  We  have 
already  shown  that  the  triumph  of  socialism  is 
in  the  interest  of  our  entire  social  development. 
In  a  certain  sense  it  is  even  in  the  interest  of  the 
owning  and  exploiting  classes.  These,  like  their 
victims,  suffer  from  the  contradictions  of  the 
modern  method  of  production.  Some  of  them 
degenerate  in  idleness,  others  wear  themselves 
out  in  the  ceaseless  race  for  profits ;  while  over 
them  all  hangs  the  Damocles'  sword  of  bank- 
ruptcy. 

But  observation  teaches  us  that  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  owners  and  exploiters  are  bitterly 
opposed  to  socialism.  Can  this  be  due  simply  to 
lack  of  knowledge  and  insight?  The  spokesmen 
among  the  adversaries  of  socialism  -are,  on  the 
contrary,  the  very  persons  whose  positions  in  the 
government,  in  society,  and  in  science  should  fit 


THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE  161 

them  best  of  all  to  understand  the  social  mechan- 
jsm  and  to  perceive  the  law  of  social  evolution. 

And  so  shocking  are  the  conditions  in  modern 
society  that  no  one  who  wishes  to  be  taken  se- 
riously in  politics  or  science  dares  any  longer 
to  deny  the  truth  of  the  charges  preferred  by 
socialism  against  the  present  social  order.  On 
the  contrary  the  clearest  thinkers  in  all  the  capi- 
talist political  parties  admit  that  there  is  "some 
truth"  in  those  charges;  some  even  declare  that 
the  final  triumph  of  socialism  is  inevitable  unless 
society  suddenly  turns  about  and  reforms — a 
thing  these  gentlemen  imagine  can  be  done  off- 
hand, provided  the  demands  of  this  or  that  party 
be  promptly  granted.  In  this  manner  even  those 
among  the  non-socialist  parties  who  best  under- 
stand the  socialist  critique  of  capitalist  society 
save  themselves  from  accepting  the  conclusions 
of  this  critique. 

The  cause  of  this  remarkable  phenomenon  is 
not  difficult  to  discover.  Although  certain  im- 
portant interests  of  the  property-holding  classes 
plead  against  the  private  ownership  of  the  means 
of  production,  other  interests,  more  immediate 
and  easily  discernible,  demand  its  retention. 

This  is  especially  the  case  with  the  rich.  They 
can  expect  no  immediate  gain  from  the  abolition 
of  private  property  in  the  means  of  production. 
The  beneficent  results  that  would  flow  therefrom 
would  be  ultimately  felt  by  "them  as  Avell  as  by 
society  in  general,  but  such  results  are  compara- 
tively distant.  The  disadvantages  which  they 
would  suffer  are,  on  the  other  hand,  self-evident : 
the  power  and  distinction  they  enjoy  today  would 


162  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

disappear  at  once,  and  not  a  few  ^  might  be  de- 
prived, also,  of  their  present  ease  and  comfort. 

It  is  otherwise  with  the  lower  ranks  of  the 
property-holding  classes,  the  small  producers, 
merchants  and  farmers.  These  have  nothing  to 
lose  in  point  of  power  and  distinction,  and  they 
can  only  gain  in  point  of  ease  and  comfort  by  the 
introduction  of  the  socialist  system  of  produc- 
tion. But  in  order  to  realize  this  they  must  rise 
above  the  point  of  view  of  their  own  class.  From 
the  standpoint  of  these  small  capitalists  or  farm- 
ers the  capitalist  system  of  production  is  unin- 
telligible; modern  socialism,  naturally,  they  can 
understand  still  less.  The  one  thing  they  have  a 
clear  notion  of  is  the  necessity  of  private  owner- 
ship in  their  own  implements  of  labor  if  their 
system  of  production  is  to  be  preserved.  So  long 
as  the  small  manufacturer  reasons  as  a  small 
manufacturer,  the  small  farmer  as  a  small  farm- 
er, the  small  merchant  as  a  small  merchant,  so 
long  as  they  are  still  possessed  of  a  strong  sense 
of  their  own  class,  so  long  will  they  be  bound  to 
the  idea  of  private  ownership  in  the  means  of 
production,  so  long  will  they  instinctively  resist 
socialism,  however  ill  they  may  fare  under  capi- 
talism. 

We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter  how  pri- 
vate property  in  the  means  of  production  fetters 
the  small  producers  to  their  undeveloped  occupa- 
tions long  after  these  have  ceased  to  afford  them 
a  competence,  and  even  when  they  might  im- 
prove their  condition  by  becoming  wage-work- 
ers outright.  Thus  private  ownership  in  the 
means  of  production  is  the  force  that  binds  all 


THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE  163 

the  property-holding  classes  to  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem, even  those  who  are  themselves  among  the 
exploited,  whose  property-holding  has  become  a 
bitter  mockery. 

Only  those  individuals  among  the  small  capi- 
talists and  farmers  who  have  despaired  of  the 
preservation  of  their  class,  who  are  no  longer 
blind  to  the  fact  that  the  form  of  production 
upon  which  they  depend  for  a  living  is  doomed, 
are  in  a  position  to  understand  the  principles 
of  socialism.  But  lack  of  information  and  nar- 
rowness of  view,  both  of  which  are  natural  re- 
sults of  their  condition,  make  it  difficult  for  them 
to  realize  the  utter  hopelessness  of  their  class. 
Their  misery  and  their  hysterical  search  for  a 
means  of  salvation  have  hitherto  only  had  the  ef- 
fect of  making  them  the  easy  prey  of  any  dema- 
gog who  was  sufficiently  self-assertive  and  who 
did  not  stick  at  promises. 

Among  the  upper  ranks  of  the  property-hold- 
ing classes  there  exists  a  higher  degree  of  culture 
and  a  broader  view.  Here  and  there  a  few  indi- 
viduals are  still  affected  by  idealistic  reminis- 
cences from  the  days  of  the  early  revolutionary 
struggles.  But  woe  to  the  person  in  these  upper 
ranks  who  shows  an  interest  in  socialism  or  en- 
gages in  its  propaganda !  He  must  soon  choose 
between  giving  up  his  ideas  or  breaking  all  the 
social  bonds  that  have  held  and  supported  him. 
Few  possess  the  vigor  and  independence  of  char- 
acter requisite  to  approach  the  point  where  the 
roads  fork;  few  among  these  few  are  brave 
enough  to  break  with  their  own  class  when  they 
have  reached  the  point ;  and,  finally,  f^i  these  few 


164  THE    CJ.ASS    STRUGGLE 

among  the  few  the  greater  portion  have  hitherto 
soon  grown  tired,  recognized  the  "indiscretions 
of  their  youth,"  and  finally  turned  "sensible." 

The  idealists  among  the  upper  classes  are  the 
only  ones  whose  support  it  is  at  all  possible  to  en- 
list in  favor  of  socialism.  But  even  among  these 
the  majority  are  moved  by  the  ihsight  which 
they  have  acquired  only  far  enough  to  wear 
themselves  out  in  fruitless  searchings  for  a 
peaceful  solution  of  the  social  problem ;  that  is 
to  say,  in  searching  for  a  solution  that  will  recon- 
cile the  interests  of  the  capitalist  class  with  theii- 
more  or  less  developed  knowledge  of  socialisn> 
and  their  consciences. 

Only  those  bourgeois  idealists  develop  into 
genuine  socialists  who  have,  not  only  the  requi- 
site theoretical  insight,  but  also  the  courage  and 
strength  to  break  with  their  class. 

Accordingly,  the  cause  of  socialism  has  little 
to  hope  from  the  property-holding  classes.  In- 
dividual members  may  be  won  over  to  socialism, 
but  only  such  as  no  longer  belong  by  convictions 
and  conduct  to  the  class  to  which  their  economic 
position  assigns  them.  These  will  ever  be  a 
very  small  minority,  except  when,  during  revo- 
lutionary periods,  the  scales  incline  to  the  side 
of  socialism.  Only  at  such  times  may  the  so- 
cialists look  forward  to  a  stampede  from  the 
ranks  of  the  property-holding  classes. 

Thus  far  the  only  favorable  recruiting  ground 
for  the  socialist  army  has  been,  not  the  classes 
which  still  have  something  to  lose,  however  little 
that  may  be,  but  the  class  of  those  who  have 
nothing  to  lose  but  their  chains,  and  a  world  to 
gain. 


THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE  165 

2.     Servants  and  Menials. 

The  recruiting  ground  of  socialism  is  the  class 
of  the  propertyless,  but  not  all  ranks  of  this 
class  are  equally  favorable. 

Though  it  is  false  to  say,  with  the  Philistines, 
that  there  have  always  been  poor  people,  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  pauperism  is  as  old  as  the 
system  of  production  for  sale.  At  first  it  ap- 
peared only  as  an  exceptional  phenomenon.  In 
the  Middle  Ages,  for  example,  there  were  but 
few  who  did  not  own  the  instruments  of  pro- 
duction necessary  for  the  satisfaction  of  their 
own  wants.  In  those  days  it  was  an  easy  mat- 
ter for  the  comparatively  small  number  of  prop- 
ertyless persons  to  find  situations  with  the  prop- 
erty-holding families  as  assistants,  farm-hands, 
journeymen,  maids,  etc.  These  were  generally 
young  persons,  and  their  lot  was  alleviated  by 
the  prospect  of  establishing  their  own  workshops 
and  owning  their  own  homes.  In  all  cases  they 
worked  with  the  head  of  the  family  or  his  wife, 
and  enjoyed  in  common  with  them  the  fruits  of 
their  labor.  As  members  of  a  property-holding 
family  they  were  not  proletarians ;  they  felt  an 
interest  in  the  property  of  the  family  whose 
prosi)erity  and  adversity  they  shared  alike. 
Where  servants  are  part  of  the  family  of  the 
property-holder,  they  will  be  found  ready  to  de- 
fend property  even  though  they  have  none  them- 
selves. Among  such  socialism  cannot  strike 
root. 

The  position  of  the  apprentices  was  much  the 
same  as  that  of  the  classes  just  discussed  (Com- 
pare Ch.  TI.,  i.). 


166  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

Gradually,  however,  there  grew  up  beside 
these  classes,  which  really  took  part  in  produc- 
tion, another  class,  that  of  personal  servants. 
Some  of  the  poor  turned  for  support  to  the  fami- 
lies of  the  greater  exploiters.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  this  meant  entering  the  personal  service  of 
the  nobles,  rich  merchants,  or  higher  clergy.  The 
poor  entered  this  service,  not  to  assist  in  produc- 
tive labor,  but  to  act  as  mercenary  soldiers  or 
mere  lackeys.  The  ancient  feeling  of  mutual 
interest  has  disappeared,  but  a  new  one  has 
taken  its  place.  There  are  various  grades  of 
servants,  with  different  work  and  different  pay. 
Each  individual  is  eager  to  improve  his  position 
by  any  means  within  his  power.  His  success  is 
dependent  on  the  master's  favor.  The  more 
skillfully  he  adapts  himself,  the  better  are  his 
prospects.  Again,  the  larger  the  income  of  the 
master  and  the  greater  his  power  and  distinc- 
tion, the  more  plentiful  are  the  crumbs  which 
fall  to  his  menials ;  this  holds  especially  of  those 
menials  who  are  kept  for  show,  whose  only  task 
is  to  make  a  parade  of  the  superfluities  which 
their  master  enjoys,  to  assist  him  in  squandering 
his  wealth,  and  to  stand  by  him  loyally  if  he 
commits  crime  or  folly.  The  modern  servant, 
accordingly,  comes  into  relations  of  peculiar  in- 
timacy with  his  master,  and  thus  he  has  naturally 
developed  into  a  foe  of  the  oppressed  and  ex- 
ploited working-class ;  not  infrequently  he  is 
more  ruthless  than  his  master  in  his  treatment 
of  them.  The  master,  if  he  has  any  discretion 
at  all,  will  not  kill  the  hen  that  lays  the  golden 
egg;  he  will  preserve  her,  not  only  for  himself, 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  167 

but  also  for  his  successors.  The  menial  is  not 
restrained  by  any  such  considerations. 

Small  wonder  that  among  the  people  generally 
nothing  is  more  hated  than  this  class  of  menials. 
Their  subservience  toward  those  above  and  their 
brutality  toward  those  below  have  become  pro- 
verbial. 

The  characteristics  of  the  menial  are,  however, 
not  confined  to  the  propertyless  people  of  the 
lower  classes.  The  poverty-stricken  noble  seek- 
ing a  livelihood  as  courtier  is  on  a  level  with  the 
servant  of  the  lowest  class. 

But  we  are  here  dealing  with  menials  of  this 
latter  class.  The  growing  intensity  of  exploita- 
tion, the  constantly  swelling  surplus  enjoyed  by 
the  capitalist,  together  with  his  resulting  extrava- 
gance, all  favor  a  steady  increase  in  the  number 
of  those  employed  as  servants.  That  is  to  say, 
they  favor  the  growth  of  a  class  which,  despite 
its  lack  of  property,  is  not  at  all  a  promising  re- 
cruiting ground  for  the  socialist  movement. 

But  other  tendencies,  fortunately,  are  working 
in  the  opposite  direction.  The  steady  revolution 
in  industry,  with  its  encroachments  upon  the 
family,  its  withdrawal  of  one  occupation  after 
another  from  the  si:)hcrc  of  household  duties  and 
the  assignment  of  them  to  special  industries,  and, 
above  all,  the  infinite  division  and  subdivision  of 
labor,  are  building  up  the  various  trades  of  bar- 
bers, waiters,  cab  drivers,  etc.  Long  after  these 
and  similar  trades  have  lost  their  domestic  char- 
acter they  tend  to  preserve  the  characteristics  of 
their  origin ;  nevertheless,  as  time  passes,  these 
characteristics    wear   off,    and   the   members   of 


168  THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE 

these  trades  acquire  the  quaHties  of  the  indus- 
trial wage-working  class. 

3.     The  Slums. 

However  numerous  the  class  of  menials  may 
be,  it  has  not,  as  a  rule,  been  able  to  absorb  the 
whole  number  of  those  left  propertyless.  The 
unemployable,  children,  old  people,  sick  and  crip- 
ples have  been  from  the  beginning  unable  to  earn 
a  living  by  entering  into  service.  To  these  were 
added  at  the  beginning  of  modern  times  a  large 
number  who  could  work  but  found  nothing  to  do. 
For  them  there  was  nothing  but  to  beg,  steal,  or 
prostitute  themselves.  They  were  compelled 
either  to  perish  or  to  throw  overboard  all  sense 
of  shame,  honor  and  self-respect.  They  prolong 
their  existence  only  by  giving  precedence  to  their 
immediate  wants  over  their  regard  for  their  repu- 
tations. That  such  a  condition  cannot  but  exer- 
cise the  most  demoralizing  and  corrupting  in- 
fluence is  self=evident. 

Furthermore,  the  effect  of  this  influence  is 
intensified  by  the  fact  that  the  unemployed  poor 
are  utterly  superfluous  to  the  existing  order; 
their  extinction  would  relieve  it  of  an  undesir- 
able burden,  A  class  that  has  become  superflu- 
ous, that  has  no  necessary  function  to  fulfil,  must 
degenerate. 

And  beggars  cannot  even  raise  themselves  in 
their  own  estimation  by  indulging  in  the  self-de- 
ception that  they  are  necessary  to  the  social  sys- 
tem; they  have  no  recollection  of  a  time  when 
their  class  performed  any  useful  services ;  they 
have  no  way  of  forcing  society  to  support  them 


THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE  169 

as  parasites.  They  are  only  tolerated.  Humility 
is,  consequently,  the  first  duty  of  the  beggar  and 
the  highest  virtue  of  the  poor.  Like  the  menials, 
this  class  of  the  proletariat  is  servile  toward  the 
powerful ;  it  furnishes  no  opposition  to  the  ex- 
isting social  order.  On  the  contrary,  it  ekes  out 
its  existence  from  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the 
tables  of  the  rich.  Why  should  it  wish  to  abol- 
ish its  benefactors?  Furthermore,  beggars  are 
not  themselves  exploited ;  the  higher  the  degree 
of  exploitation,  the  larger  the  incomes  of  the 
rich,  all  the  more  have  the  beggars  to  expect. 
Like  the  menial  class,  they  are  partakers  in  the 
fruits  of  exploitation ;  they  have  no  motive  for 
wishing  to  put  an  end  to  the  system. 

But  though  this  section  of  the  proletariat  has 
never  offered  any  resistance  to  the  system  of  ex- 
ploitation, still  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  bulwark 
of  this  system.  Cowardly  and  unprincipled,  it 
soon  deserts  its  benefactors  when  power  and 
wealth  have  slipped  from  their  hands.  This 
class  has  never  taken  the  lead  in  any  revolution- 
ary movement.  But  it  has  always  been  on  hand 
during  social  disturbances,  ready  to  fish  in  trou- 
bled waters.  Occasionally  it  has  given  the  last 
kick  to  a  falling  class ;  as  a  rule,  however,  it  has 
satisfied  itself  with  exploiting  every  revolution 
that  has  broken  out.  only  to  betray  it  at  the  ear- 
liest opportunity. 

The  capitalist  system  of  production  has  greatly 
increased  the  slum  proletariat.  It  constantly 
sends  to  it  new  recruits.  In  the  large  centers  of 
industry  this  element  constitutes  a  considerable 
iwrtion  of  the  population. 


170  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

In  character  and  view  of  life  the  slum  prole- 
tariat approaches  the  lowest  ranks  of  the  farmer 
and  small  bourgeois  class.  Like  these,  it  has 
despaired  of  its  own  power  and  seeks  to  save 
itself  through  aid  received  from  above. 

4.    The  Beginnings  of  the  Wage-Earning 
Proletariat. 

It  was  from  the  last  mentioned  classes  that 
capitalism  drew  its  first  supply  of  wage-labor. 
It  needed  not  so  much  skilled  workers  as  docile 
ones.  And  since  the  slum-proletariat  and  the 
sections  of  the  population  most  closely  related  to 
it  had  already  learned  obedience  and  humility 
they  were  well  fitted  to  supply  the  demand.  With 
workers  from  this  source  capitalism  could  de- 
velop without  opposition.  They  were  easily  ex- 
ploited to  the  limit.  They  would  work  long 
hours  amidst  almost  intolerable  conditions.  Who- 
ever wishes  to  learn  of  the  deplorable  state  of 
the  proletariat  during  the  early  days  of  modern 
industry  has  but  to  read  Frederich  Engles'  classic 
work  on  the  working-class  of  England. 

5.    The  Advance  of  the  Wage-Earning  Proletariat 

At  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  modern  in- 
dustry the  term  proletariat  implied  absolute  de- 
generacy. And  there  are  persons  who  believe 
this  is  still  the  case.  But  even  in  the  earliest 
days  there  was  the  beginning  of  a  great  gulf  be- 
tween the  working-class  proletariat  and  the  slum 
proletariat. 

The  slum  proletariat  has  always  been  the  same, 
whether  in  modern  London  or  ancient  Rome. 


THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE  171 

The  modern  laboring  proletariat  is  an  absolutely 
unique  phenomenon. 

Between  these  two  there  is,  first  of  all,  the 
difference  that  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  first  is  a 
parasite  and  the  second  the  most  important  root 
of  modern  social  life.  Far  from  receiving  alms, 
the  modern  working  proletarians  support  the 
whole  structure  of  our  society.  At  first,  to  be 
sure,  they  do  not  perceive  this,  but  sooner  or 
later  they  discover  that  instead  of  receiving  their 
bread  from  the  capitalist  they  furnish  him  his. 

From  house-servants  and  apprentices,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  working  proletarians  distinguish 
themselves  by  the  fact  that  they  do  not  live  and 
work  with  their  exploiters.  The  personal  rela- 
tions that  formerly  bound  them  to  their  employ- 
ers have  disappeared. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  modern  working-man 
does  not  envy  and  imitate  the  rich,  as  did  the 
poor  of  pre-capitalist  days.  He  hates  them  as 
enemies  and  despises  them  as  idlers. 

At  first  this  feeling  exhibits  itself  sporadically. 
But  as  soon  as  the  workers  discover  that  their 
interests  are  common,  that  they  are  all  opposed 
to  the  exploiter,  it  takes  the  form  of  great  or- 
ganizations and  open  battles  against  the  exploit- 
ing class.  The  sense  of  power  that  goes  with 
class-consciousness  means  the  regeneration  of 
the  working-class.  It  raises  this  class  forever 
above  the  level  of  the  parasitic  poor. 

All  the  conditions  of  modern  production  tend 
to  increase  the  solidarity  of  the  laboring  classes. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  each  artisan  produced  a  fin- 
ished product ;  he  was  industrially  almost  inde- 


172  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

pendent.  Today  it  often  takes  scores,  or  even 
hundreds,  to  produce  a  finished  product.  Thus 
does  industry  teach  co-operation. 

Perhaps  modern  uniformity  of  conditions  is 
even  more  effective  in  this  direction  than  the 
necessity  for  co-operation.  In  the  Medieval 
gilds  there  were  the  beginning  of  international- 
ism, but  the  various  trades  were  sharply  divided. 
Among  the  menial,  as  we  have  seen,  divisions 
in  rank  were  endless.  But  in  the  modern  fac- 
tory there  are  practically  no  gradations.  All  the 
employes  work  under  nearly  the  same  conditions, 
and  the  individual  laborer  is  powerless  to  change 
them.  Under  the  influence  of  machinery,  more- 
over, the  distinctions  among  the  trades  are  rap- 
idly disappearing.  This  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  apprenticeships  are  constantly  being  short- 
ened. Whole  trades  are  often  rendered  unneces- 
sary by  some  new  invention,  and  those  employed 
in  them  are  forced  to  turn  to  another  form  of 
labor.  This  tends  more  and  more  to  make  an 
individual  worker  forget  his  craft  and  fight  for 
his  entire  class. 

Uprisings  against  employers  are  nothing  new. 
They  occurred  in  plenty  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
But  only  during  the  nineteenth  century  did  these 
uprisings  attain  the  character  of  a  class-struggle,  i 
And  thus  this  great  conflict  has  taken  on  a  higher 
purpose  than  the  righting  of  temporary  wrongs ; 
the  labor  movement  has  become  a  revolutionary 
movement. 


THE  CLASS  STRUGGLE  173 

6.     The  Conflict  Between  the  Elevating  and  Degrad- 
ing  Tendencies   Which   Affect   the    Proletariat. 

The  elevation  of  the  working-class  is  a  neces- 
sary and  inevitable  process.  But  it  is  neither 
peaceful  nor  regular.  The  tendency  of  the  capi- 
talist system  is,  as  we  have  shown  in  Chapter  II. 
to  degrade  the  proletariat  ever  more  and  more. 
The  moral  regeneration  of  the  working-class  is 
possible  only  in  opposition  to  this  tendency  and 
its  representatives,  the  capitalists.  It  cannot 
come  about  except  through  the  new  tendency  de- 
veloped in  the  working-class  by  the  modern  con- 
ditions of  labor.  But  the  two  tendencies,  the 
one  upward  and  the  other  downward,  vary  con- 
stantly in  different  places  and  at  different  periods. 
They  depend  on  the  condition  of  the  market,  the 
organization  of  industry,  the  development  of  ma- 
chinery, the  insight  of  the  capitalists  and  work- 
ers, etc.,  etc.  All  of  these  conditions  vary  from 
year  to  year  in  all  the  numerous  branches  of  in- 
dustry. 

But  fortunately  for  human  development  there 
comes  a  time  in  the  history  of  every  section  of 
the  proletariat  when  the  elevating  tendencies  gain 
the  upper  hand.  And  when  they  have  once 
wakened  full  class-consciousness  in  any  grouj) 
of  workers,  the  consciousness  of  solidarity  with 
all  the  members  of  the  working-class,  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  strength  that  is  born  of  union ; 
as  soon  as  any  group  has  recognized  that  it  is 
essential  to  society  and  that  it  dare  hope  for  bet- 
ter things  in  the  future, — then  it  is  well  nigh 
impossible  to  shove  that  group  back  into  the  de- 
generate mass  of  beings  whose  opposition  to  the 


174  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

system  under  which  they  suffer  takes  no  othef 
form  than  that  of  unreasoned  hate. 

7.     Philanthropy   and    Labor    Legislation. 

If  every  section  of  the  proletariat  had  been 
dependent  on  its  own  efforts,  the  uplifting  proc- 
ess would  have  begun  much  later  and  been  much 
slower  and  more  painful  than  it  actually  was. 
Without  help  many  a  division  of  the  proletariat 
now  occupying  an  honorable  position  would  not 
have  been  at  all  able  to  overcome  the  difficulties 
that  are  inherent  in  all  beginnings.  Aid  came 
from  many  an  upper  social  rank,  from  the  upper 
ranks  of  the  proletariat  as  well  as  from  the 
property-holding  classes.  The  assistance  ren- 
dered by  the  latter  of  these  was  of  no  slight 
value  in  the  early  days  of  capitalist  large  pro- 
duction. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  poverty  was  so  slight 
that  public  and  private  benevolence  sufficed  to 
deal  with  it.  It  presented  no  problem  for  society 
to  solve ;  in  so  far  as  it  gave  occasion  for  reflec- 
tion it  was  only  the  subject  of  pious  contem- 
plation; it  was  looked  upon  as  a  visitation  from 
heaven,  intended  either  to  punish  the  wicked  or 
try  the  godly.  To  the  rich  it  furnished  an  oppor- 
tunity to  exercise  their  virtue. 

With  the  growth  of  the  capitalist  system,  how- 
ever, the  number  of  the  unemployed  increased, " 
and  poverty  assumed  tremendous  proportions. 
The  spectacle  of  a  large  pauper  class,  which  was 
as  novel  as  it  was  dangerous,  drew  upon  it  the 
attention  of  all  thoughtful  and  kindly  disposed 
persons.     Primitive  means   for  the  distribution 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  '         175 

of  <,\\H.tity  proved  inadequate.  To  care  for  all 
the  poor  was  soon  felt  to  be  a  work  that  greatly 
exceecicrci  the  powers  of  the  community.  Then 
there  arose  a  new  problem :  how  to  abolish  pov- 
erty? A  great  many  solutions  were  offered. 
These  ranged  from  schemes  to  get  rid  of  the 
poor  by  hattging  or  deportation  to  elaborate  plans 
for  communistic  colonies.  The  latter  met  with 
great  applause  among  people  of  culture,  but  the 
former  wcie  the  only  suggestions  ever  really 
tried. 

By  degrees,  however,  the  question  of  poverty 
took  on  a  new  aspect.  The  capitalistic  system  of 
production  developed  rapidly  and  finally  became 
the  coDtrolimg  one.  As  this  development  went 
on,  the  problem  of  poverty  ceased  to  exist  for  the 
thinkers  in  tfie  capitalist  class.  Capitalist  pro- 
duction rests  upon  the  proletariat ;  to  put  an  end 
to  the  latter  wete  to  render  the  former  impossible. 
Colossal  poverty  is  the  foundation  of  colossal 
wealth ;  he  who  would  eliminate  the  poverty  of 
the  masses  assails  the  wealth  of  the  few.  Ac- 
cordingly, whoever  attempts  to  remedy  the  pov- 
erty of  the  workers  is  pronounced  "an  enemy  of 
law  and  order.'^ 

True  enough,  neither  fear  nor  compassion  has 
ceased,  even  under  this  changed  aspect  of  things, 
to  be  felt  in  capitalist  circles,  and  to  tell  in  favor 
of  the  proletariat.  For  poverty  is  a  source  of 
danger  to  the  whole  social  fabric ;  it  breeds  pesti- 
lence and  crime.  Accordingly  a  few  of  the  more 
clear-headed  and  humane  among  the  ruling 
classes  are  willing  to  do  something  for  the  work- 
ing-class; but  to  the  bulk  of  them,  who  neither 


176  THE    CLASS   S']»UGGLE 

dare,  nor  can  afford,  t<^  break  with  tht'w  v/vn 
class,  the  problem  can  no  longer  be  that  of  the 
abohtion  of  the  protetariat.  At  best  they  cannot 
go  beyond  the  elevation  of  the  proletarian.  The 
proletariat  is  by  all  means  to  continue,  able  to 
work  and  satisfied  with  its  condition. 

Within  these  bounds,  of  course,  philanthrc/py 
can  manifest  itself  in  manifold  ways.  Most  of  its 
methods  are  either  wholly  useless  or  calculated 
only  to  give  temporary  aid  in  isolated  cases. 

There  is,  however,  one  notable  exception  to 
this  generalization.  I  refer  to  labor  legislation. 
When,  during  the  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  capitalist  production  on  a  large  scale 
made  its  entry  into  England  and  was  there  ac- 
companied by  all  the  horrors  which  it  can  produce 
under  the  worst  conditions,  the  wises c  among  the 
philanthropists  arrived  at  the  conviction  that 
there  was  but  one  thing  able  to  check  the  de- 
generation of  the  workers  in  the  industries  af- 
fected. They  immediately  began  to  propose  laws 
for  the  protection  of  the  workers,  at  least  for  the 
protection  of  the  most  helpless  among  them,  the 
women  and  children. 

The  capitalists  engaged  in  large  production  in 
England  did  not  at  that  time  constitute  the  rul- 
ing section  of  the  capitalist  class,  as  they  do  to- 
day. Many  economic,  as  well  as  poHtical,  inter- 
ests among  the  other  sections — especially  the 
small  producers  and  landlords — spoke  in  favor 
of  limiting  the  powers  of  the  large  capitalists 
over  their  workmen.  The  movement  in  this 
direction  was  favored  also  by  the  consideration 
that  unless  the  large  capitalists  were  restrained, 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  177 

the  working  class,  which  was  the  foundation  of 
EngHsh  industry,  would  inevitably  perish.  This 
was  a  consideration  which  could  not  fail  to  in- 
fluence every  member  of  the  ruling  class  intel- 
ligent enough  to  see  further  than  his  own  im- 
mediate interests.  A'dded  to  this  there  was  the 
support  of  a  few  large  capitalists  who  realized 
that  they  had  sufficient  means  to  adapt  them- 
selves to  the  proposed  laws  and  who  saw  that 
their  less  wealthy  competitors  would  be  ruined  by 
them.  In  spite  of  all  this,  and  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  working-class  itself  set  in  motion 
a  powerful  movement  in  favor  of  factory  laws, 
it  took  a  hard  fight  to  obtain  the  first  slight 
factory  legislation  and  subsequently  to  extend  it. 

Slight  though  these  first  conquests  seemed, 
they  were,  nevertheless,  sufficient  to  awaken  out 
of  their  lethargy  those  ranks  of  the  proletariat 
in  whose  behalf  they  were  passed  and  to  arouse 
in  them  the  upward  tendencies  inherent  in  their 
social  position.  Indeed,  even  before  the  move- 
ment had  achieved  any  victory,  the  struggle  was 
enough  to  reveal  to  the  proletarians  how  im- 
portant they  were  and  what  a  power  they  wielded. 
These  early  struggles  shook  them  up,  imparted 
to  them  self-consciousness  and  self-respect,  put 
an  end  to  their  despair,  and  set  up  before  them 
a  goal  beyond  their  immediate  future. 

Another,  and  extremely  important,  means  of 
improving  the  condition  of  the  working-class  is 
the  public  schools.  Their  influence  cannot  be 
overestimated.  Nevertheless  their  effect  in  the 
direction  of  elevating  the  proletariat  is  inferior 
to  that  of  thorough-going  factory  laws. 


178  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

The  more  fully  the  capitahst  system  develops, 
the  more  large  production  crowds  out  inferior 
forms  or  changes  their  character,  the  more  im- 
perative does  the  strengthening  of  factory  laws 
become.  It  becomes  necessary  to  extend  them, 
not  only  to  all  branches  of  large  industry,  but  to 
home  industry  and  agriculture,  as  well.  In  the 
same  measure  as  the  importance  of  these  laws 
increases  there  grows  also  the  influence  of  large 
capitalists  in  modern  society.  Property-owners 
who  are  not  industrial  capitalists — landlords, 
small  manufacturers,  shop-keepers,  etc. — become 
infected  with  capitalist  modes  of  thought.  The 
thinkers  and  statesmen  of  the  bourgeoisie,  form- 
erly its  far-sighted  leaders,  sink  to  the  role  of 
mere  defenders  of  the  capitalist  class. 

The  devastation  of  the  working-class  by 
capitalist  production  is  so  shocking  that  only 
the  most  shameless  and  greedy  capitalists  dare 
to  refuse  a  certain  amount  of  statutory  protec- 
tion to  labor.  But  for  any  important  labor 
measure,  the  eight-hour  law,  for  example,  there 
will  be  found  few  supporters  among  the  prop- 
erty-holding class.  Capitalist  philanthropy  be- 
comes constantly  more  timid;  it  tends  more  and 
more  to  leave  to  the  workers  themselves  the 
struggle  for  their  protection.  The  modern  strug- 
gle for  the  eight-hour  day  bears  a  very  different 
aspect  from  the  one  which  was  carried  on  in 
England  fifty  years  ago  for  the  ten-hour  day. 
The  property-holding  politicians  who  are  advo- 
cating the  modern  measure  are  moved,  not  by 
philanthropy,  but  by  the  necessity  of  yielding  to 
*^heir  working-class   constituents.      The   struggle 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  179 

for  labor  legislation  is  becoming  more  and  more 
\  class-struggle  between  proletarians  and  capital- 
ists. On  the  continent  of  Europe  and  in  the 
United  States,  where  the  struggle  for  labor  laws 
commenced  much  later  than  in  England,  it  bore 
this  character  from  the  start.  The  proletariat  has 
nothing  more  to  hope  for  from  the  property- 
holding  classes  in  its  endeavor  to  raise  itself.  It 
now  depends  wholly  upon  its  own  efforts. 

8.     The  Labor  Union  Movement. 

Struggles  between  laborers  and  exploiters  art 
nothing  new.  Extremely  bitter  and  protracted 
ones  occurred  toward  the  end  of  the  Middle 
Ages  between  apprentices  and  masters.  As  early 
as  the  fifteenth  century,  masters  here  and  there 
\Y0uld  seek  to  escape  from  work  by  increasing  the 
number  of  their  apprentices.  On  the  other  hand 
they  made  it  more  and  more  difficult  for  any  but 
their  sons  to  become  masters.  Gradually  the 
family  relation  between  master  and  man  was 
loosened,  and  the  modern  division  into  classes 
had  begun. 

As  soon  as  the  master  began  to  play  the  part 
of  modern  capitalist,  conflicts  were  inevitable. 
And  in  one  respect  the  apprentices  were  in  a  good 
position  to  assert  themselves.  In  each  city  they 
were  well  organized.  Each  gild  included  all  the 
apprentices  in  a  particular  trade;  it  controlled 
absolutely  the  supply  of  labor  so  far  as  that  trade 
was  concerned.  When  the  time  of  conflict  ar- 
rived, it  could  use  with  tremendous  effectiveness 
the  weapons  which  have  become  so  familiar  in 
modern  times,  the  strike  and  the  boycott. 


180  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

All  the  increasing  power  of  the  modern  state 
was  called  into  action  to  teach  the  unruly  ap- 
prentices their  place.  The  suppression  of  the 
working-class  has  been  from  the  beginning  the 
chief  function  of  the  state,  and  in  these  early 
days  it  performed  this  function  with  terrible  ef- 
fect. But  all  its  efforts  did  not  succeed  in  put- 
ting an  end  to  the  trouble.  Denied  the  right  of 
organization,  the  apprentices  formed  secret 
unions  and  maintained  them  in  the  face  of  fright- 
ful persecutions. 

But  what  the  state  could  not  accomplish  was 
accomplished  by  industrial  evolution.  After  the 
close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  particularly  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  manufacturing  was  becoming 
an  increasingly  important  feature  of  the  in- 
dustrial world.  Before  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery, employes  in  factories  had  the  advantages 
neither  of  the  Medieval  system  of  industry  nor 
of  the  modern.  They  lived  in  large  towns  and 
were  often  of  various  races.  More  than  this,  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  skill  were  demanded  for  dif- 
ferent occupations.  For  all  of  these  reasons 
they  found  it  difficult  to  organize.  Their  only 
.advantage  lay  in  the  fact  that  their  work  did  re- 
quire skill.  They  were  not  compelled  to  com- 
pete against  the  entire  mass  of  the  unemployed. 

Only  the  introduction  of  machinery  altered 
this  last  condition.  It  made  the  whole  mass  of  the 
unemployed  serviceable  to  capitalism  and  threw 
even  proletarian  women  and  children  upon  the 
labor  market. 

Since  the  introduction  of  machinery  the  trans- 
fwmation  of  industry  has  proceeded  at  an  an- 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  181 

precedented  pace.  To  be  sure,  mechanical 
methods  were  not  immediately  introduced  into 
all  industrial  branches.  In  some  branches  even 
the  old  handicraft  methods  have  survived.  Such 
survivals,  however,  instead  of  tending  to  prolong 
former  conditions,  usually  lead,  as  has  been  the 
case  in  the  tailoring  industry,  to  sweat-shop 
labor.  That  is,  they  produce  the  class  of  laborers 
least  able  to  resist  their  masters. 

But  the  tendency  is  to  introduce  machines  into 
all  departments  of  industry.  The  effect  on  the 
power  of  resistance  developed  in  the  working- 
class  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  In  the  first 
place  this  change  tends  to  divide  the  workers  into 
two  classes,  skilled  and  unskilled.  The  former 
class  includes  all  whose  work  requires  any  special 
degree  of  skill  or  efficiency.  The  latter  includes, 
of  course,  all  those  who  perform  such  labor  as 
can  be  done  by  any  one  having  the  requisite 
strength.  The  characteristic  mark  of  members  of 
this  latter  class  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
they  can  be  easily  replaced. 

It  was  naturally  the  skilled  workers  who  began 
the  struggle  for  better  conditions.  The  fact  that 
it  was  difficult  to  find  substitutes  for  them  in  case 
of  a  strike  gave  them  an  important  strategic  ad- 
vantage. Their  position  was  not  unlike  that  of 
ihe  medieval  apprentices,  and  in  many  respects 
their  unions  were  natural  descendants  of  the 
gilds. 

But  if  modern  skilled  laborers  inherited  certain 
advantages  from  their  predecessors,  they  also 
took  over  from  them  one  tendency  which  has  done 
great  harm  to  the  modern  labor  movement.    This 


182  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

is  the  tendency  to  separate  the  various  crafts. 
Naturally  those  in  the  best  position  to  fight  have 
won  for  themselves  superior  advantages  and  have 
come  to  look  upon  themselves  as  an  aristocracy 
of  labor.  Looking  only  at  their  own  interest, 
they  have  been  content  to  rise  at  the  expense  of 
their  less  fortunate  comrades. 

Far-sighted  politicians  and  industrial  leaders 
have  not  been  slow  to  take  advantage  of  this  con- 
dition. 'Today  the  worst  enemies  of  the  working- 
class  are  not  the  stupid,  reactionary  statesmen 
who  hope  to  keep  down  the  labor  movement 
through  openly  repressive  measures.  Its  worst 
enemies  are  the  pretended  friends  who  encourage 
craft  unions,  and  thus  attempt  to  cut  off  the 
skilled  trades  from  the  rest  of  their  class.  They 
are  trying  to  turn  the  most  efficient  division  of 
the  proletarian  army  against  the  great  mass, 
against  those  whose  position  as  unskilled  workers 
makes  them  least  capable  of  defense. 

But  sooner  or  later  the  aristocratic  tendency  of 
even  the  most  highly  skilled  class  of  laborers 
will  be  broken.  As  mechanical  production  ad- 
vances, one  craft  after  another  is  tumbled  into 
the  abyss  of  common  labor.     This  fact  is  con- 

'  stantly  teaching  even  the  most  effectively  organ- 
ized divisions  that  in  the  long  run  their  position  is 
dependent  upoii  the  strength  of  the  working-class 
as  a  whole.  They  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  is  a  mistaken  policy  to  attempt  to  rise  on  the 
shoulders  of  those  who  are  sinking  in  a  quick- 
sand.    They  come  to  see  that  the  struggles  of 

*  other  divisions  of  the  proletariat  are  b)  -lo  means 
foreign  to  them. 


THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE  183 

At  rhe  same  time  one  division  of  the  unskilled 
aiter  another  rises  out  of  its  stupid  lethargy  or 
mere  purposeless  discontent.  This  is  in  part  a 
natural  consequence  of  the  successes  achieved  by 
the  skilled  laborers.  The  direct  results  of  the 
activities  of  the  unskilled  proletarians  may  seem 
unimportant,  nevertheless  it  is  these  activities 
that  bring  about  the  moral  regeneration  of  this 
division  of  the  working-class. 

Thus  there  has  gradually  formed  from  skilled 
and  unskilled  workers  a  body  of  proletarians 
who  are  in  the  movement  of  labor,  or  the  labor 
movement.  It  is  the  part  of  the  proletariat 
which  is  fighting  for  the  interests  of  the  whole 
class,  its  church  militant,  as  it  were.  This  di- 
vision grows  at  the  expense  both  of  the  "aristo- 
crats of  labor"  and  of  the  common  mob  which 
still  vegetates,  helpless  and  hopeless.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  laboring  proletariat  is  con- 
stantly increasing;  we  know,  further,  that  it 
tends  more  and  more  to  set  the  pace  in  thought 
and  feeling  for  the  other  working  classes.  We 
now  see  that  in  this  growing  mass  of  workers 
the  militant  division  increases  not  only  absolute- 
ly, but  relatively.  No  matter  how  fast  the 
proletariat  may  grow,  this  militant  division  of 
it  grows  still  faster. 

But  it  is  precisely  this  militant  proletariat 
which  is  the  most  fruitful  recruiting  ground  for 
socialism.  The  socialist  movement  is  nothing 
more  than  the  part  of  this  militant  proletariat 
which  has  become  conscious  of  its  goal.  In  fact, 
these  two,  socialism  and  the  militant  proletariat, 
tend   constantly   to  become   identical.      In   Ger- 


184  THE    C1>ASS   STRUGGLE 

raaiiy  and  Austria  their  identity  is  already  an  ac- 
complished fast. 

9.     The  Political  Struggle. 

The  original  organizations  of  the  proletariat 
were  modeled  after  those  of  the  medieval  ap- 
prentices. In  like  manner  the  first  weapons  of 
the  modern  labor  movement  were  those  inherited 
from  a  previous  age,  the  strike  and  the  boycott. 

But  these  methods  are  insufficient  for  the 
modern  proletariat.  The  more  completely  the 
various  divisions  of  which  it  is  made  up  unite 
into  a  single  working-class  movement,  the  more 
must  its  struggles  take  on  a  political  character. 
Every  class-struggle  is  a  political  struggle. 

Even  the  bare  requirements  of  the  industrial 
struggle  force  the  workers  to  make  political  de- 
mands. We  have  seen  that  the  modern  state  re- 
gards it  as  its  principal  function  to  make  the  ef- 
fective organization  of  labor  impossible.  Secret 
organizations  are  inefficient  substitutes  for  open 
ones.  The  more  the  proletariat  develops,  the 
more  it  needs  freedom  to  organize. 

But  this  freedom  is  not  alone  sufficient  if  the 
proletariat  is  to  have  adequate  organizations. 
The  apprentices  and  journeymen  of  previous 
periods  found  it  easy  to  act  together.  The 
various  cities  were  industrially  independent.  In 
any  given  city  the  number  of  those  engaged  in 
any  trade  was  comparatively  small.  They  usual- 
ly lived  on  one  street  and  spent  their  leisure  time 
at  the  same  tavern.  Each  one  was  personally 
acquainted  w^ith  all  the  rest. 

Today  conditions  are  radically  different.     In 


THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE  185 

every  industrial  center  there  are  gathered 
thousands  of  working-men.  A  single  individual 
can  know  personally  only  a  few  of  his  com- 
rades. To  make  this  great  mass  feel  its  common 
interests,  to  induce  it  to  act  as  one  in  an  organiza- 
tion, it  is  necessary  to  have  means  of  com- 
municating with  large  numbers.  A  free  press 
and  the  right  of  assemblage  are  absolutely  es- 
sential. 

The  free  press  is  made  especially  necessary  by 
the  development  of  modern  means  of  com- 
munication. It  is  possible  now  for  a  capitalist 
to  import  strike-breakers  from  far-lying  districts. 
Unless  the  workers  can  organize  unions  covering 
the  entire  nation,  or  even  the  entire  civilized 
world,  they  are  powerless.  But  this  cannot  be 
done  without  the  aid  of  the  press. 

On  this  account,  wherever  the  working-class 
has  endeavored  to  improve  its  economic  position 
it  has  made  poHtical  demands,  especially  demands 
for  a  free  press  and  the  right  of  assemblage. 
These  privileges  are  to  the  proletariat  the  pre- 
requisites of  life ;  they  are  the  light  and  air  of 
the  labor  movement.  Whoever  attempts  to  deny 
them,  no  matter  what  his  pretensions,  is  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  worst  enemies  of  the  work- 
ing-class. 

Occasionally  some  one  has  attempted  to  op- 
pose the  political  struggle  to  the  economic,  and 
declared  that  the  proletariat  should  give  its  ex- 
clusive attention  either  to  the  one  or  the  other. 
The  fact  is  that  the  two  cannot  be  separated 
The  economic  struggle  demands  political  rights, 
and  these  will  not  fall  from  heaven.     To  secure 


186  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

and  maintain  them,  the  most  vigorous  political 
action  is  necessary.  The  political  struggle  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  the  last  analysis,  an  economic 
struggle.  Often,  in  fact,  it  is  directly  and  open- 
ly economic,  as  when  it  deals  with  tariff  and 
factory  laws.  The  political  struggle  is  merely  a 
particular  form  of  the  economic  struggle,  in  fact, 
its  most  inclusive  and  vital  form. 

The  interest  of  the  working-class  is  not  limited 
to  the  laws  which  directly  affect  it;  the  great 
majority  of  laws  touch  its  interests  to  some  ex- 
tent. Like  every  other  class,  the  working-class 
must  strive  to  influence  the  state  authorities,  to 
bend  them  to  its  purposes. 

Great  capitalists  can  influence  rulers  and 
legislators  directly,  but  the  workers  can  do  so 
only  through  parliamentary  activity.  It  matters 
little  whether  a  government  be  republican  in 
name.  In  all  parliamentary  countries  it  rests 
with  the  legislative  body  to  grant  tax  levies.  By 
electing  representatives  to  parliament,  therefore, 
the  working-class  can  exercise  an  influence  over 
the  governmental  powers. 

The  struggle  of  all  the  classes  which  depend 
upon  legislative  action  for  political  influence  is 
directed,  in  the  modern  state,  on  the  one  hand 
toward  an  increase  in  the  power  of  the  parlia- 
ment (or  congress),  and  on  the  other  toward  an 
increase  in  their  own  influence  within  the  parlia- 
jment.  The  power  of  parliament  depends  on  the 
energy  and  courage  of  the  classes  behind  it  and 
on  the  energy  and  courage  of  the  classes  on 
which  its  will  is  to  be  imposed.  The  influence 
of  a  class  within  a  parliament  depends,  in  the 


THE   CLASS    STRUGGLE  187 

first  place,  on  the  nature  of  the  electoral  law  in 
force.  It  is  dependent,  further,  upon  the  influ- 
ence of  the  class  in  question  among  the  voters, 
and,  lastly,  upon  its  aptitude  for  parliamentary 
work. 

A  word  must  be  added  on  this  last  point.  The 
bourgeoisie,  with  all  sorts  of  talent  at  its  com- 
mand, has  hitherto  been  able  to  manipulate 
parliaments  to  its  own  purpose.  Therefore, 
small  capitalists  and  farmers  have  in  large  num- 
bers lost  all  faith  in  legislative  action.  Some  of 
these  have  declared  in  favor  of  the  substitution 
of  direct  legislation  for  legislation  by  representa- 
tives ;  others  have  denounced  all  forms  of 
political  activity.  This  may  sound  very  revolu- 
tionary, but  in  reality  it  indicates  nothing  but  the 
political  bankruptcy  of  the  classes  involved. 

The  proletariat  is,  however,  more  favorably 
situated  in  regard  to  parliamentary  activity.  We 
have  already  seen  how  the  modern  method  of 
production  reacts  on  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
proletariat,  how  it  has  awakened  in  them  a  thirst 
for  knowledge  and  given  them  an  understanding 
of  great  social  problems.  So  far  as  their  at- 
titude toward  politics  is  concerned,  they  are 
raised  far  above  the  farmers  and  small  capital- 
ists. It  is  easier  for  them  to  grasp  party  princi- 
ples and  act  on  them  uninfluenced  by  personal 
and  local  motives.  Their  conditions  of  life, 
moreover,  make  it  possible  for  them  to  act  to- 
gether in  great  numbers  for  a  common  end. 
Their  regular  forms  of  activity  accustom  them  to 
rigid  discipline.  Their  unions  are  to  them  an 
excellent  parliamentary  school ;  they  afford  op- 


188  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

portunities  for  training  in  parliamentary  law  and 
public  speaking. 

The  proletariat  is,  therefore,  in  a  position  to 
form  an  independent  party.  It  knows  how  to 
control  its  representatives.  Moreover,  it  finds  in 
its  own  ranks  an  increasing  number  of  persons 
well  fitted  to  represent  it  in  legislative  halls. 

Whenever  the  proletariat  engages  in  parlia- 
mentary activity  as  a  self-conscious  class,  parlia- 
mentarism begins  to  change  its  character.  It 
ceases  to  be  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  the 
bourgeoisie.  This  very  participation  of  the  pro- 
letariat proves  to  be  the  most  effective  means  of 
shaking  up  the  hitherto  indifferent  divisions  of 
the  proletariat  and  giving  them  hope  and  con- 
fidence. It  is  the  most  powerful  lever  that  can 
be  utilized  to  raise  the  proletariat  out  of  its 
economic,  social  and  moral  degradation. 

The  proletariat  has,  therefore,  no  reason  to 
distrust  parliamentary  action ;  on  the  other  hand, 
it  has  every  reason  to  exert  all  its  energy  to  in- 
crease the  power  of  parliaments  in  their  relation 
to  other  departments  of  government  and  to  swell 
to  the  utmost  its  own  parliamentary  representa- 
tion. Besides  freedom  of  the  press  and  the  right 
to  organize,  the  universal -ballot  is  to  be  regard- 
ed as  one  of  the  conditions  prerequisite  to  a 
sound  development  of  the  proletariat. 

10.    The  Labor  Party. 

In  the  first  place  the  ballot  was  useful  to  the 
working-class  only  because  it  now  and  then  made 
various  sections  of  the  bourgeoisie  dependent  on 
it  for  favors.    In  their  internal  struggles  capital- 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  189 

ist  factions,  as,  for  example,  the  industrial 
capitalists  or  the  landlords,  would  offer  advan- 
tages to  the  proletariat  for  the  sake  of  securing 
its  support.  Though  this  procedure  often  re- 
sulted in  valuable  concessions,  nevertheless  so 
long  as  the  working-class  went  no  further  in  its 
political  activities  there  was  a  definite  limit  to  its 
possibilities. 

The  interests  of  the  proletariat  and  the 
bourgeoisie  are  of  so  contrary  a  nature  that  in 
the  long  run  they  cannot  be  harmonized.  Sooner 
or  later  in  every  capitalist  country  the  participa- 
tion of  the  working-class  in  politics  must  lead  to 
the  formation  of  an  independent  party,  a  labor 
party. 

At  what  moment  in  its  history  the  proletariat 
of  any  particular  country  will  reach  the  point  at 
which  it  is  ready  to  take  this  step,  depends 
chiefly  upon  its  economic  development.  In  some 
degree,  also,  it  depends  upon  two  other  condi- 
tions, the  insight  of  the  working-class  into  the 
political  and  economic  situation  and  the  attitude 
of  the  bourgeois  parties  toward  one  another. 

But  an  independent  labor  party  is  bound  to 
come  sooner  or  later.  And,  once  formed,  such 
a  party  must  have  for  its  purpose  the  conquest 
of  the  government  in  the  interest  of  the  class 
which  it  represents.  Economic  development 
will  lead  naturally  to  the  accomplishment  of  this 
purpose.  The  time  and  manner  of  its  ac- 
complishment may  vary  in  different  lands, 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  final 
victory  of  the  proletariat.  For  this  class  grows 
constantly    in    moral    and    political    power    as 


190  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

well  as  in  numbers.  The  class-struggle  wid- 
ens its  view  and  teaches  it  solidarity  and  dis- 
cipline. In  capitalist  countries  it  tends  constant- 
ly to  become  the  only  working  class,  hence  the 
class  upon  which  all  others  are  dependent.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  classes  opposed  to  the 
proletariat  diminish  constantly  in  numbers  and 
lose  visibly  in  moral  and  political  power.  In  in- 
dustry they  become,  not  only  superfluous,  but 
often  actually  detrimental. 

Under  these  circumstances  there  can  be  no 
doubt  as  to  which  side  will  eventually  be  vic- 
torious. Long  ago  the  possessing  classes  were 
seized  with  fear  of  their  approaching  fate. 

But  the  proletariat,  as  the  lowest  of  the  ex- 
ploited classes — the  slum-proletariat  is  not  ex- 
ploited— cannot  use  its  power,  as  the  other  classes 
have  done,  to  shift  the  burden  of  exploitation  to 
other  shoulders.  It  must  put  an  end  to  its  own 
exploitation  and  in  the  same  act  to  all  exploita- 
tion. The  root  of  exploitation,  however,  is  to  be 
found  in  private  ownership  of  the  means  of 
production.  The  proletariat  can  do  away  with 
the  former  only  by  destroying  the  latter.  If  the 
propertyless  condition  of  the  proletariat  makes 
possible  its  winning  over  to  the  abolition  of  this 
form  of  private  property,  its  exploitation  will 
compel  it  to  abolish  exploitation  and  to  substitute 
co-operative  for  capitalist  production. 

But  we  have  seen  that  this  cannot  come  about 
so  long  as  commodity  production  remains  su- 
preme. In  order  to  substitute  co-operative  for 
capitalist  production  it  is  absolutely  necessary  t^ 
replace  production  for  the  market  with  produ''^ 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  191 

tion  for  the  community  and  under  the  control  of 
the  community.  SociaHst  production  is,  there- 
fore, the  natural  result  of  a  victory  of  the 
proletariat.  If  the  working-class  did  not  make 
use  of  its  mastery  over  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment to  introduce  the  socialist  system  of  produc- 
tion, the  logic  of  events  would  finally  call  some 
such  system  into  being — but  only  after  a  useless 
waste  of  energy  and  time.  But  socialist  produc- 
tion must,  and  will,  come.  Its  victory  will  have 
become  inevitable  as  soon  as  that  of  the  pro- 
letariat has  become  inevitable.  The  working- 
class  will  naturally  strive  to  put  an  end  to  ex- 
ploitation, and  this,  it  can  do  only  through  social- 
ist production. 

Thus  it  appears  that  wherever  an  independent 
labor  party  is  formed  it  must  sooner  or  later  ex- 
hibit socialist  tendencies;  if  not  socialist  in  the 
beginning,  it  must  become  so  in  the  end. 

We  have  now  examined  the  chief  recruiting 
grounds  of  socialism.  Our  results  may  be 
summed  up  as  follows :  the  militant,  politically 
self-conscious  divisions  of  the  industrial  pro- 
letariat furnish  the  power  which  is  behind  the 
socialist  movement ;  but  the  more  the  influence 
of  the  proletariat  affects  the  ways  of  thinking 
and  feeling  in  vogue  among  allied  social  groups, 
the  more  will  these,  also,  be  drawn  into  the 
movement. 

11.    The  Labor  Movement  and  Socialism. 

In  the  beginning  socialists  were  slow  to  recog- 
nize the  part  which  the  militant  proletariat  is 
called  upon  to  play  in  the  socialist  movement.    It 


192  .  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

could  not  be  otherwise,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
so  long  as  there  was  no  militant  proletariat, 
And  socialism  is  older  than  the  class-struggle  of 
the  proletariat.  It  dates  back  to  the  time  of  the 
first  appearance  of  the  proletariat  on  a  large 
scale.  It  was  not  until  much  later  that  the  pro- 
letarians showed  the  first  stirrings  of  inde- 
pendent life.  The  first  root  of  socialism  was  the 
sympathy  of  upper-class  philanthropists  with  the 
poor  and  miserable.  The  early  socialists  were 
merely  the  bravest  and  most  far-sighted  of  these 
philanthropists.  They  saw  clearly  that  the  ex- 
istence of  the  proletariat  was  a  natural  result  of 
the  private  ownership  of  the  means  of  produc- 
tion, and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  draw  the  logical 
conclusions  from  their  observation.  Socialism 
was  the  deepest  and  most  splendid  expression  of 
bourgeois  philanthropy. 

There  were  no  class  interests  to  which  the 
socialists  of  that  day  could  appeal ;  they  were 
forced  to  turn  to  the  sympathy  and  enthusiasm 
of  upper-class  idealists.,  They  attempted  to  se- 
cure support  by  means  of  alluring  descriptions  of 
a  socialist  commonwealth,  on  the  one  side,  and 
persistent  representations  of  the  prevailing 
misery,  on  the  other.  The  rich  and  mighty  were 
to  be  persuaded  to  furnish  means  for  a  thorough- 
going relief  of  misery  and  the  institution  of  an 
ideal  society.  As  is  well  known,  these  philan- 
thropic socialists  waited  in  vain  for  the  noblemen 
and  millionaires  whose  magnanimity  was  to  save 
the  race. 

During  the  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  proletariat  began  to  show  signs  of 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  193 

an  independent  life.  During  the  thirties  a  vigor- 
ous labor  movement  got  under  way  in  France  and 
England. 

But  the  socialists  did  not  understand  it.  They 
thought  it  impossible  for  the  poor  and  ignorant 
proletarians  to  attain  to  the  moral  elevation  and 
social  power  requisite  for  the  realization  of  the 
socialist  plans.  But  distrust  was  not  their  only 
feeling  toward  the  labor  movement.  This  new 
phenomenon  was  inconvenient  to  them ;  it 
threatened  to  rob  them  of  their  most  effective 
argument.  For  the  bourgeois  socialists'  only 
hope  of  winning  over  the  sensitive  capitalist  lay 
in  being  able  to  show  him  that  every  attempt  to 
alleviate  misery  and  elevate  the  poor  was 
doomed  to  failure  by  the  conditions  of  modern 
society  and  that,  consequently,  it  was  impossible 
for  the  proletarians  to  rise  through  their  own  ef- 
forts.  But  the  labor  movement  proceeded  upon 
premises  absolutely  opposed  to  this  line  of  argu- 
ment. Another  fact  tended  to  bring  about  the 
same  result.  The  class-struggle  naturally  em- 
bittered the  bourgeoisie  against  the  proletariat. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  capitalists  the  working-class 
were  transformed  from  pitiful  unfortunates  who 
needed  help  into  a  pack  of  miscreants  who  should 
be  subdued  and  kept  down.  Sympathy  for  the 
poor  and  miserable,  which  had  been  the  chief 
root  of  socialism,  began  to  wither.  The  teachings 
of  socialism  came  to  appear  to  the  terror- 
stricken  bourgeoisie  as  a  dangerous  weapon 
which  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  mob  and 
bring  about  unspeakable  harm.  In  short,  the 
stronger  the  labor  movement  appeared  the  more 


194  THE    CLASS    STRUG^GLE 

difficult  became  socialist  propag';^nda  among  the 
ruling  classes,  and  the  more  well-defined  became 
the  opposition  of  these  classes  to  the  socialist 
movement. 

So  long  as  socialists  were  of  the  opinion  that 
the  means  of  attaining  the  objects  of  socialism 
must  come  from  the  capitalist  class,  they  were 
compelled,  not  only  to  look  with  suspicion  upoa 
the  labor  movement,  but  often  to  assitme  an  at- 
titude of  direct  opposition  to  it.  As  a  result  thex 
came  to  regard  the  class-struggle  as  t\\t  enemy 
of  socialism. 

This  naturally  reacted  upon  the  Uboring 
classes,  tended  to  make  of  them  en^twies  of 
socialism.  The  ambitious,  struggling  proleta- 
rians discovered  nothing  but  opposition  among, 
the  socialists  and  nothing  but  discouragement  in 
the  socialist  teachings.  As  a  result,  there  was 
born  among  them  a  distrust  of  the  whole  body 
of  socialist  doctrine.  This  feeling  was  favored 
by  the  ignorance  even  of  the  militant  proletariat 
at  the  beginning  of  the  labor  movement.  Th^ 
narrowness  of  their  view  made  it  impossible  for 
them  to  grasp  the  purposes  of  socialism,  and  a? 
yet  they  were  unconscious  of  their  economic- 
position  and  of  the  tasks  which  confronted  their 
class.  They  felt  only  an  indefinite  class  instinct 
which  taught  them  to  distrust  everything  that 
had  its  origin  in  the  capitalist  class.  Under  the 
circumstances  they  were  naturally  as  much  op- 
posed to  socialism  as  to  anv  other  form  of 
bourgeois  philanthropy. 

Among  certain  groups  of  working-men,  es- 
pecially in  England,  distrust  of  socialism  took 


THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE  195 

deep  root  at  this  time.  It  is  partly  because  of 
this  that  until  recently  England  has  been  com- 
paratively unaffected  by  the  socialist  movement. 
But  no  matter  how  wide  might  grow  the 
chasm  between  socialism  and  the  militant  pro- 
letariat, socialist  philosophy  is  so  adequate  to  the 
needs  of  thinking  proletarians  that  the  best 
poinds  in  the  working-class,  as  soon  as  they  had 
opportunity,  willingly  turned  to  it.  Then  the 
bourgeois  socialist  came  under  the  influence  of 
proletarian  thinking.  The  new,  proletarian 
socialists  took  little  account  of  the  capitalist 
class.  They  hated  it  and  were  fighting  against 
it.  In  their  hands  the  peaceful  socialism  which 
was  to  save  the  race  through  the  intervention  of 
'^the  best  elements  in  the  upper  classes  was  trans- 
formed into  a  violent  revolutionary  socialism 
which  was  to  depend  for  its  support  upon  pro- 
letarian fists. 

But  even  this  movement,  though  essentially 
proletarian  in  its  origin,  had  no  understanding 
of  the  labor  movement ;  it  stood  in  opposition  to 
the  class-struggle  in  its  highest  form,  that  is,  the 
political  struggle.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  it 
was  impossible  for  it  to  transcend  the  theories 
of  the  Utopians.  At  best  a  proletarian  can  do  no 
more  than  appropriate  for  his  own  purposes  a 
part  of  the  learning  of  the  bourgeois  world.  He 
lacks  the  leisure  necessary  to  carry  independent 
scientific  investigation  beyond  the  point  reached 
by  bourgeois  thinkers.  Therefore  primitive 
working-class  socialism  bore  all  the  marks  of 
utopianism.  It  had  no  notion  of  the  economic 
evolution  which  is    creating    the    material    ele- 


196  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

ments  of  socialist  production  and,  by  means  of  a 
long  struggle,  is  training  the  class  that  is  to 
vitaHze  these  elements  and  develop  from  them 
a  new  society.  Like  the  Utopians,  the  early  pro- 
letarian sociaHsts  looked  upon  society  as  a  build- 
ing which  could  be  constructed  arbitrarily  ac- 
cording to  a  preconceived  plan  if  one  had  only 
the  required  space  and  materials.  They  trusted 
themselves  to  furnish  the  power  both  to  build 
and  to  preserve  this  structure.  As  to  the  ma- 
terials and  place,  they  did  not  expect  these  from 
the  bounty  of  some  millionaire  or  nobleman;  the 
revolution  was  to  be  sufficient  to  tear  down  the 
old  structure,  to  overpower  its  defenders,  and 
give  the  discoverers  of  the  new  plan  an  oppor- 
tunity to  build  the  new  structure,  the  socialist 
commonwealth. 

In  this  course  of  reasoning  there  was  no  place 
for  the  class-struggle.  The  proletarian  Utopians' 
found  the  misery  in  which  they  lived  so  bitter 
that  they  were  imp,'itient  for  its  immediate  re- 
moval. Even  if  they  had  thought  it  possible  for 
the  class-struggle  to  raise  the  proletariat  gradual- 
ly, and  thus  fit  them  i'or  the  further  develop- 
ment of  society,  this  process  would  have  seemed 
to  them  much  too  tedious  and  complex.  But 
they  did  not  believe  in  th's  gradual  elevation. 
They  stood  at  the  beginnitig  of  the  labor  move- 
ment. The  group  of  prolet?nans  who  partici- 
pated in  it  were  few,  and  among  these  only  a 
still  smaller  number  saw  beyond  their  temporary 
interests.  To  train  the  great  mass  of  the  popula- 
tion in  socialist  ways  of  thinking  seemed  hope' 
less.     The  most  that  could  be  expected  of  thi^ 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  197 

mass  was  a  violent  outbreak  which  might  de- 
stroy the  existing  order  and  thus  clear  the  way 
for  socialism.  The  worse  the  condition  of  the 
masses,  thought  these  primitive  socialists,  the 
nearer  must  be  the  moment  when  their  misery 
would  become  unbearable  and  they  would  rise 
and  topple  over  the  social  structure  which  op- 
pressed them.  A  struggle  for  the  gradual  eleva- 
tion of  the  working-class  seemed  not  only  hope- 
less, but  harmful.  For  any  slight  improvement 
that  might  be  achieved  could  only  tend  to  post- 
pone the  moment  of  their  uprising  and,  there- 
fore, the  moment  of  permanent  release  from 
misery.  Every  form  of  the  class-struggle  which 
was  not  aimed  at  the  immediate  overthrow  of  the 
existing  order,  that  is,  every  serious,  efficient  sort 
of  effort,  seemed  to  the  early  socialist  as  nothing 
more  nor  less  -than  a  betrayal  of  humanity.  It 
is  now  more  than  fifty  years  since  this  way  of 
looking  at  things  made  its  appearance.  Its  best 
expression  it  received,  probably,  in  the  works  of 
Wilhelm  Weitling.  Even  today  it  has  not  died 
out.  The  tendency  toward  it  appears  in  every 
division  of  the  working-class  which  begins  to 
take  its  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  militant  pro- 
letariat. It  appears  in  every  land  where  the 
proletariat  becomes  for  the  first  time  conscious 
of  its  degraded  condition  and  imbued  with 
socialistic  notions,  without  at  the  same  time  hav- 
ing reached  a  clear  insight  into  social  laws  and 
gained  confidence  in  its  ability  to  carry  on  a 
protracted  struggle.  And  since  new  divisions  of 
the  proletariat  are  constantly  rising  out  of  the 
depths  into    which    economic    development    has 


198  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

thrust  them,  this  primitive  sociahst  way  of  think- 
ing may  be  expected  continually  to  make  its  re- 
appearance. It  is  a  children's  disease  which 
threatens  every  young  socialist  movement  which 
has  not  got  beyond  iitopianism. 

At  present  this  sort  of  socialistic  thinking  is 
called  anarchy,  but  it  is  not  necessarily  con- 
nected with  anarchism.  It  has  its  origin,  not  in 
clear  understanding,  but  rather  in  mere  in- 
stinctive opposition  to  the  existing  order.  There- 
fore it  may  be  connected  with  the  most  varied 
theoretical  points  of  view.  But  it  is  true  that 
the  rude  and  violent  socialism  of  the  primitive 
proletarians  is  often  associated  with  the  refined 
and  peaceable  anarchy  of  the  small  bourgeois. 
With  all  their  differences  these  two  have  one 
thing  in  common,  hatred  of  the  protracted  class- 
struggle,  especially  of  its  highest  form,  the 
political  struggle. 

The  proletarian  Utopians  were  no  more  able 
than  their  forerunners  to  overcome  the  opposi- 
tion between  socialism  and  the  labor  movement. 
It  is  true  that  conditions  occasionally  compelled 
them  to  take  active  part  in  the  class-struggle. 
But  they  w^e  too  illogical  to  see  the  connection 
between  socialism  and  the  labor  movement. 
Therefore  their  activity  merely  resulted  in  the 
crowding  out  of  the  former  by  the  latter.  It 
is  well  known  that  the  early  anarchist-socialist 
movement  sank  sooner  or  later  either-  into  pure- 
and-simple  craft  unionism  or  mere  co-operative 
communism. 


THE    CLASS   SRTUGGLE  199 

12.    The  Socialist  Party — Union  of  the  Labor  Move- 
ment and  SociaHsm, 

If  the  socialist  movement  and  the  labor  move- 
ment were  ever  to  become  one  it  was  necessary 
for  Socialism  to  be  raked  beyond  the  Utopian 
point  of  view.  To  accomplish  this  was  the  il- 
lustrious work  of  Marx  and  Engels.  In  their 
Communist  Manifesto,  published  in  1847,  they 
laid  the  scientific  foundation  of  modern  social- 
ism. They  transformed  the  beautiful  dream  of 
well-meaning  enthusiasts  into  the  goal  of  a  great 
and  earnest  struggle,  they  proved  it  to  be  the 
natural  result  of  economic  development.  To  the 
militant  proletariat  they  gave  a  clear  conception 
of  their  historical  function,  and  placed  them  in 
a  position  to  proceed, toward  their  great  goal  with 
as  much  speed  and  as  few  sacrifices  as  possible. 
The  socialists  are  no  longer  expected  to  discover 
a  new  and  free  social  order;  all  they  have  to  do 
is  discover  the  elements  of  such  an  order  in  ex- 
isting society.  They  need  no  longer  attempt  to 
bring  to  the  proletariat  salvation  from  above. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  becomes  their  duty  to  sup- 
port the  working-class  in  its  constant  struggle  by 
encouraging  its  political  and  economic  institu- 
tions. It  must  do  all  in  its  power  to  hasten  the 
day  when  the  working-class  will  be  able  to  save 
itself.  To  give  to  the  class-struggle  of  the  pro- 
letariat the  most  efi^ective  form,  this  is  the  func- 
tion of  the  Socialist  Party. 

The  teaching  of  Marx  and  Engels  gave  to  the 
class-struggle  of  the  proletariat  an  entirely  new 
character.  So  long  as  socialist  production  is  not 
kept  consciously  in  view  as  its  object,  so  long  as 


200  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

the  efforts  of  the  miHtant  proletariat  do  not  ex- 
tend beyond  the  framework  of  the  existing 
method  of  production,  the  class-struggle  seems  to 
move  forever  in  a  circle.  For  the  oppressive 
tendencies  of  the  capitalist  method  of  production 
are  not  done  away  with ;  at  most  they  are  only 
checked.  Without  cessation,  new  groups  of  the 
middle  class  are  thrown  into  the  proletariat. 
The  desire  for  profits  constantly  threatens  to 
bring  to  nought  the  achievements  of  the  more 
favorably  situated  divisions  of  labor.  Every  re- 
duction in  the  hours  of  labor  becomes  an  excuse 
for  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery 
and  for  the  intensification  of  labor.  Every  im- 
provement in  the  organization  of  labor  is 
answered  with  an  improvement  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  capital.  And  all  the  time  unemployment 
increases,  crises  become  more  serious,  and  the 
uncertainty  of  existence  grows  more  unendura- 
ble. The  elevation  of  the  working-class  brought 
about  by  the  class-struggle  is  more  moral  than 
economic.  The  industrial  conditions  of  the  pro- 
letariat improve  but  slowly,  if  at  all.  But  the 
self-respect  of  the  proletarians  mounts  higher, 
as  does  also  the  respect  paid  them  by  the  other 
classes  of  society.  They  begin  to  regard  them- 
selves as  the  equals  of  the  upper  classes  and  to 
compare  the  conditions  of  the  other  strata  of 
society  with  their  own.  They  make  greater  de- 
mands on  society,  demands  for  better  clothes, 
better  dwellings,  greater  knowledge  and  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children.  They  wish  to  have 
some  share  in  the  achievements  of  modern  civil- 
ization.    And  they  feel  with  increasing  keennes? 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  201 

every  set-back,  every  new  form  of  oppression. 

This  moral  elevation  of  the  proletariat  is 
identical  with  the  increasing  demands  which  it 
makes  on  society.  Moreover  it  advances  more 
rapidly  than  the  conditions  of  labor  which  neces- 
sarily prevail  under  the  present  system  of  ex- 
ploitation. The  result  of  the  class-struggle  can, 
therefore,  be  nothing  else  than  increasing  dis- 
content among  the  proletarians.  And  therefore 
the  class-struggle  appears  purposeless  so  long  as 
it  does  not  look  beyond  the  present  system  of 
production. 

Only  socialist  production  can  put  an  end  to 
the  disparity  between  the  demands  of  the  work- 
ers and  the  means  of  satisfying  them.  By  doing 
away  with  exploitation  it  would  render  impossi- 
ble the  luxuries  of  the  exploiters  and  the  natural 
discontent  of  the  exploited.  With  the  removal 
of  the  standard  set  by  the  rich  the  demands  of 
the  workers  would,  of  course,  be  measured  by 
the  means  at  hand  to  satisfy  them.  We  have 
already  seen  how  much  the  socialist  method  of 
production  would  increase  these  means. 

Perpetual  discontent  is  unknown  in  com- 
munistic societies.  In  our  capitalistic  world  it 
results  naturally  from  the  distinction  of  classes 
wherever  the  exploited  feel  themselves  to  be  the 
equals  of  the  exploiters. 

So  long,  therefore,  as  the  class-struggle  of  the 
proletariat  was  opposed  to  socialism,  so  long  as 
it  did  nothing  beyond  attempting  to  improve  the 
Dosition  of  the  proletariat  within  the  framework 
of  existing  society,  it  could  not  reach  its  goal. 
But  a  great  change  came  with  the  amalgamation 


202  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

of  socialism  and  the  labor  movement.  Now  the 
proletariat  has  a  goal  toward  which  it  is  strug- 
gling, which  it  comes  nearer  to  with  every  bat- 
tle. Now  all  features  of  the  class-struggle  have 
a  meaning,  even  those  that  produce  no  im- 
mediately practical  results.  Every  effort  that 
preserves  or  increases  the  self-consciousness  of 
the  proletariat  or  its  spirit  of  co-operation  and 
discipline,  is  worth  the  making. 

Many  an  apparent  defeat  is  turned  into  a 
victory.  Every  unsuccessful  strike,  every  labor 
law  defeated,  means  a  step  toward  the  securing 
of  a  life  worthy  of  human  beings.  Every 
political  or  industrial  measure  which  has  refer- 
ence to  the  proletariat  has  a  good  effect. 
Whether  it  be  friendly  or  unfriendly,  matters 
not,  so  long  as  it  tends  to  stir  up  the  working- 
class.  From  now  on  the  militant  proletariat  is 
no  longer  like  an  army  fighting  hard  to  defend 
positions  already  won ;  now  it  must  become  clear 
to  the  dullest  onlooker  that  it  is  an  irresistible 
conqueror. 

13.    The    International   Character   of   the   Socialist 
Movement. 

The  founders  of  modern  socialism  recognized 
from  the  beginning  the  international  character 
which  the  labor  movement  tends  everywhere  to 
assume.  So  they  naturally  attempted  to  give 
their  movement  an  international  basis. 

International  commerce  is  inevitably  connected 
with  the  capitalist  system  of  production.  The 
development  of  capitalism  out  of  early,  simple 
production  of  commodities  is    most    intimately 


THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE  203 

Connected  with  the  growth  of  world-commerce. 
But  world-commerce  is  impossible  without  peace- 
ful intercourse  among  the  various  nations.  It 
requires  that  a  foreign  merchant  be  protected 
equally  with  a  native. 

The  development  of  international  commerce 
raises  the  merchant  to  a  high  position  in  our 
society.  His  way  of  looking  at  things  begins  to 
influence  society  as  a  whole.  But  the  merchant 
has  always  been  an  unsettled  person ;  his  motto 
has  ever  been,  Where  I  fare  well,  there  is  my 
home.  Thus  in  proportion  to  the  extension  of 
world-commerce  and  capitalist  production  there 
develop  international  tendencies  in  bourgeois 
society. 

The  capitalist  system  of  production,  however, 
develops  the  most  remarkable  contradictions. 
Hand  in  hand  with  the  movement  toward  in- 
ternational brotherhood  goes  a  tendency  to  em- 
phasize international  differences.  Commerce  de- 
mands peace,  but  competition  leads  to  war.  If, 
in  each  country,  the  different  capitalists  and 
classes  are  in  a  state  of  war,  so  are  the  capitalist 
classes  of  the  various  countries.  Each  nation 
tries  to  extend  the  markets  for  its  own  goods  by 
crowding  out  the  goods  of  other  nations.  The 
more  complex  becomes  international  commerce, 
the  more  essential  international  peace,  the  fiercer 
grows  the  competitive  struggle  and  the  greater 
the  danger  of  conflicts  between  nations.  The 
closer  the  international  relations  which  are  de- 
veloped, the  louder  swells  the  demand  for  at- 
tention to  separate  national  interests.  The  more 
urgent  the  need  of  peace,  the  greater  the  danger 


204  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

of  war.  These  apparently  impossibL..  antither  is 
correspond  exactly  to  the  character  li-f  capital'st 
production.  They  lie  hidden  in  the  simple 
production  of  commodities,  but  on/y  capitalist 
production  develops  them  till  they  become  in- 
tolerable. That  it  develops  at  the  £3  me  time  the 
necessity  of  peace  and  the  tendency  toward  war 
is  only  one  of  the  contradictions  which  will 
bring  about  the  destruction  of  the  capitalist 
system. 

The  proletariat  has  not  assumed  the  incon- 
sistent attitude  with  regard  to  this  matter  that 
is  characteristic  of  the  other  classes.  The  more 
the  working-class  develops  and  becomes  inde- 
pendent, the  clearer  becomes  the  fact  that  it  is 
influenced  by  only  one  of  the  opposing  tendencies 
which  we  have  just  observed  in  the  capitalist 
system.  The  capitalist  system,  by  expropriating 
the  worker,  has  freed  him  from  the  soil.  He  has 
now  no  settled  home,  and  therefore  no  country. 
Like  the  merchant,  he  can  take  for  his  motto, 
Where  I  fare  well,  there  is  my  home.  Even  the 
medieval  apprentices  extended  their  wanderings 
to  foreign  lands,  and  the  beginning  of  an  inter- 
national relation  was  the  result.  But  what  were 
these  wanderings  in  comparison  with  those  made 
possible  by  modern  means  of  travel?  And  the 
apprentice  journeyed  with  the  intention  of  re- 
turning to  his  home ;  the  modern  proletarian 
journeys  with  his  wife  and  family  in  order  to 
settle  wherever  he  finds  conditions  most  favor- 
able.   He  is  not  a  tourist,  but  a  nomad. 

The  merchant  in  a  foreign  country  depends 
upon  his  government  for  the  support  which  is 


THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE  205 

necessary  to  successful  competition.  He  ap- 
preciates his  country ;  often  enough,  in  fact,  he 
becomes  the  most  confirmed  among  the  jingos. 
It  is  different  with  the  proletarian.  At  home  he 
has  not  been  spoiled  by  government  protection 
of  his  interests.  And  in  foreign  lands,  at  least 
in  such  as  are  civilized,  he  has  no  need  of  protec- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  the  new  land  is  usually 
one  in  which  the  laws  and  their  administration 
are  more  favorable  to  the  worker  than  those  of 
his  original  home.  And  his  co-workers  have  no 
motive  for  depriving  him  of  what  little  protec- 
tion he  can  get  from  the  law  in  his  struggle 
against  his  exploiter.  Their  interest  lies  rather 
in  increasing  his  ability  to  withstand  the  com- 
mon enemy. 

Very  differently  from  the  apprentice  or  the 
merchant  is  the  modern  proletarian  torn  loose 
from  the  soil.  He  becomes  a  citizen  of  the 
world ;  the  whole  world  is  his  home. 

No  doubt  this  world-citizenship  is  a  great 
hardship  for  the  workers  in  countries  where  the 
standard  of  living  is  high  and  the  conditions  of 
labor  are  comparatively  good.  In  such  countries, 
naturally,  immigration  will  exceed  emigration. 
As  a  result  the  laborers  with  the  higher  standard 
of  living  will  be  hindered  in  their  class-struggle 
by  the  influx  of  those  with  a  lower  standard  and 
less  power  of  resistance. 

Under  certain  circumstances  this  sort  of  com- 
petition, like  that  of  the  capitalists,  may  lead  to 
a  new  emphasis  on  national  lines,  a  new  hatred 
of  foreign  workers  on  the  part  of  the  native 
born.     But  the  conflict  of  nationalities,  which  is 


206  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

perpetual  among  the  capitalists,  can  be  only 
temporary  among  the  proletarians.  For  sooner 
or  later  the  workers  will  discover  that  the  im- 
migration of  cheap  labor-power  from  the  more 
backward  to  the  more  advanced  countries,  is  as 
inevitable  a  result  of  the  capitalist  system  as  the 
introduction  of  machinery  or  the  forcing  of 
women  into  industry. 

In  still  another  way  does  the  labor  movement 
of  an  advanced  country  suffer  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  backward  conditions  "of  other  lands. 
The  high  degree  of  exploitation  endured  by  the 
proletariat  of  the  economically  undeveloped  na- 
tions becomes  an  excuse  for  the  capitalists  of  the 
more  highly  developed  ones  for  opposing  any 
movement  in  the  direction  of  higher  wages  or 
better  conditions. 

In  more  than  one  way,  then,  it  is  borne  in 
upon  the  workers  of  each  nation  that  their  suc- 
cess in  the  class-struggle  is  dependent  on  the 
progress  of  the  working-class  of  other  nations. 
For  a  time  this  may  turn  them  against  foreign 
workers,  but  finally  they  come  to  see  that  there  is 
only  one  effective  means  of  removing  the  hinder- 
ing influence  of  backward  nations :  to  do  away 
with  the  hackzvardness  itself.  German  workers 
have  every  reason  to  co-operate  with  the  Slavs 
and  Italians  in  order  that  these  may  secure  high- 
er wages  and  a  shorter  working-day ;  the  Eng- 
lish workers  have  the  same  interest  in  relation  to 
the  Germans,  and  the  Americans  in  relation  to 
Europeans  in  general. 

The  dependence  of  the  proletariat  of  one  land 
on  that  of  another  leads  inevitably  to  a  joining 


THE  CLASS  STRUGGLE  207 

of  forces  by  the  militant  proletarians  of  various 
lands. 

The  survivals  of  national  seclusion  and  na- 
tional hatred  which  the  proletariat  took  over 
from  the  bourgeoisie,  disappear  steadily.  The 
working-class  is  freeing  itself  from  national 
prejudices.  Working-men  learn  more  and  more 
to  see  in  the  foreign  laborer  a  fellow-fighter,  a 
comrade. 

The  strongest  bonds  of  international  solidar- 
ity, naturally,  are  those  which  bind  groups  of 
proletarians,  which,  though  of  different  national- 
ities, have  the  same  purposes  and  use  the  same 
methods  to  accomplish  them. 

How  necessary  is  the  international  union  of 
the  crass-struggles  of  the  proletariat,  as  soon  as 
they  extend  beyond  a  certain  limit  in  purpose 
and  strength,  was  recognized  in  the  beginning 
by  the  authors  of  the  Communist  Manifesto. 
This  historic  document  is  addressed  to  the 
proletarians  of  all  lands  and  concludes  by  call- 
ing upon  them  to  unite.  And  the  organization 
which  they  had  won  over  to  the  acceptance  of 
the  principles  of  the  manifesto,  and  in  the 
name  of  which  it  was  issued,  was  international, 
the   Society  of  Communists. 

The  defeats  of  the  revolutionary  movements 
of  1848  and  1849  put  an  end  to  this  society,  but 
with  the  re-awakening  of  the  labor  movement 
in  the  sixties  it  came  to  life  again  in  the  Inter- 
national Workingmen's  Association  (founded  in 
1864).  This  association  had  for  its  purpose,  not 
only  to  arouse  a  feeling  of  solidarity  in  the  pro- 
letarians of  different  lands,  but  also  to  give  them 


208  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

a  common  goal  and  lead  them  toward  it  by  a 
common  route.  The  first  of  these  purposes  was 
gloriously  fulfilled,  but  the  second  was  fulfilled 
only  in  part.  The  International  was  to  bring 
about  the  union  of  socialism  and  the  militant 
proletariat  in  all  lands.  It  declared  that  the 
emancipation  of  the  working-class  could  be  ac- 
complished only  by  the  workers  themselves ;  that 
the  political  movement  was  only  a  means  to  this 
end,  and  that  the  proletariat  could  not  emanci- 
pate itself  so  long  as  it  remained  dependent  upon 
the  monopolists  of  the  means  of  production. 
Within  the  International  opposition  to  these 
principles  developed  in  proportion  to  the  clear- 
ness with  which  they  were  seen  to  lead  to 
modern  socialism.  At  that  time  there  was  still 
a  comparatively  large  number  of  bourgeois  and 
proletarian  Utopians.  These,  together  with  the 
pure-and-simple  unionists,  dropped  out  of  the 
International  as  soon  as  they  understood  its  pur- 
pose. The  fall  of  the  Paris  Commune,  in  1871, 
and  persecutions  in  various  European  countries, 
hastened  its  fall. 

But  the  consciousness  of  international  solidar- 
ity that  had  been  generated  could  not  be 
smothered. 

Since  then  the  ideas  of  the  Communist  Mani- 
festo have  taken  hold  of  the  militant  proletariat 
of  Europe  and  of  many  proletarian  groups  out- 
side of  Europe.  Everywhere  the  class-struggle 
and  the  socialist  movement  have  become  one,  or 
are  in  a  fair  way  to  do  so.  The  principles,  ob- 
jects and  means  of  the  proletarian  class-struggle 
tend  everywhere  to  become  the  same.     This  in 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  209 

itself  has  been  sufficient  to  produce  a  feeling  of 
union  among  the  socialistic  labor  movements  of 
different  countries.  Their  international  con- 
sciousness has  constantly  grown  stronger,  and  it 
needed  only  an  external  impulse  to  give  to  this 
fact  visible  expression. 

This  came  about,  as  is  well  known,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  celebration  of  the  hundredth  an- 
niversary of  the  storming  of  the  Bastile,  which 
occurred  at  the  International  Congress  of  Paris 
in  1889.  Since  then  the  international  character 
of  the  proletarian  struggle  has  had  a  visible 
symbol  in  the  May  Day  celebration.  It  has  been 
strengthened,  moreover,  by  regularly  recurring 
international  congresses.  These  congresses  are 
made  up,  not  of  isolated  enthusiasts,  like  the 
bourgeois  peace  congresses,  but  of  the  represent- 
atives of  millions  of  working  men  and  women. 
Every  May  Day  shows  in  the  most  impressive 
manner  that  it  is  the  masses  of  industrial  work- 
ers in  all  the  great  centers  of  population  of  all 
civilized  lands  that  feel  in  themselves  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  international  solidarity  of  the 
proletariat,  that  protest  against  war  and  declare 
that  national  divisions  are  no  longer  divisions  be- 
tween peoples,  but  between  exploiters. 

Such  a  bridging  of  the  chasm  between  the  na- 
tions, such  an  international  amalgamation  of 
great  sections  of  the  people  of  different  lands, 
the  history  of  the  world  has  never  seen  before. 
This  phenomenon  appears  the  more  imposing 
when  we  remember  that  it  has  come  into  ex- 
istence under  the  shadow  of  military  armaments 
which,  on  their  part,  also  offer  a  spectacle  the 


210  THE    CLASS   STRUGGLE 

like  of  which  has  never  before  been  seen  in  the 
world. 

14.     The  Socialist  Party  and  the  People. 

The  Socialist  movement  has,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  been  from  the  beginning  international  in 
its  character.  But  in  each  country  it  has  at  the 
same  time  the  tendency  to  become  a  national 
party.  That  is,  it  tends  to  become  the  represent- 
ative, not  only  of  the  industrial  wage-earners,  but 
of  all  laboring  and  exploited  classes,  or,  in  other 
words,  of  the  great  majority  of  the  population. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  industrial  pro- 
letariat tends  to  become  the  only  working-class. 
We  have  pointed  out,  also,  that  the  other  work- 
ing-classes are  coming  more  and  more  to  re- 
semble the  proletariat  in  the  conditions  of  labor 
and  way  of  living.  And  we  have  discovered  that 
the  proletariat  is  the  only  one  among  the  work- 
ing-classes that  grows  steadily  in  energy,  in  in- 
telligence, and  in  clear  consciousness  of  its 
purpose.  It  is  becoming  the  center  about  which 
the  disappearing  survivals  of  the  other  working- 
classes  group  themselves.  Its  ways  of  feehng 
and  thinking  are  becoming  standard  for  the 
whole  mass  of  non-capitalists,  no  matter  what 
their  status  may  be. 

As  rapidly  as  the  wage-earners  become  the 
leaders  of  the  people,  the  labor  party  becomes  a 
people's  party.  When  an  independent  craftsman 
feels  like  a  proletarian,  when  he  recognizes  that 
he,  or  at  any  rate  his  children,  will  sooner  or 
later  be  thrust  into  the  proletariat,  that  there  is 
no  salvation  for  him  except  through  the  libera- 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  211 

tion  of  the  proletariat — from  that  moment  on  he 
will  see  in  the  Socialist  Party  the  natural  repre- 
sentative of  his  interests. 

We  have  already  explained  that  he  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  a  socialist  victory.  In  fact  such  a 
victory  would  be  distinctly  to  his  advantage,  for 
it  would  usher  in  a  society  that  would  free  all 
workers  frohi  exploitation  and  oppression  and 
give  them  security  and  prosperity. 

But  the  Socialist  Party  represents  the  inter- 
ests of  all  non-capitalist  classes,  not  only  in  the 
future,  but  in  the  present.  The  proletariat,  as 
the  lowest  of  the  exploited  strata,  cannot  free 
itself  from  exploitation  and  oppression  without 
putting  an  end  to  all  exploitation  and  oppression. 
It  is,  therefore,  their  sworn  enemy,  no  matter  in 
what  form  they  may  appear;  it  is  the  champion 
of  all  the  exploited  and  oppressed. 

We  spoke  above  of  the  International.  It  is 
significant  that  the  occasion  for  its  founding  was 
furnished  by  a  demonstration  in  favor  of  the 
Poles,  who  had  risen  against  the  yoke  of  the 
Czar.  It  was  characteristic,  also,  that  the  first 
address  sent  ont  by  the  International  was  a  let- 
ter of  congratulation  to  President  Lincoln  in 
which  this  association  of  working-men  expressed 
its  sympathy  with  the  abolition  movement.  And, 
finally,  the  International  was  the  first  organiza- 
tion existing  in  England,  and  the  first  counting 
Englishmen  among  its  members,  which  took  the 
part  of  the  Irish  who  were  oppressed  by  the 
English  ruling  '^lass.  Not  one  of  these  causes, 
that  of  the  Poles,  the  Irish,  or  the  African 
slaves,  'vas  directly  connected  with  the  class  in- 
terests of  the  wage-earners. 


212  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

We  are  told,  it  is  true,  that  the  socialist  move- 
ment depends  on  the  progress  of  economic  de- 
velopment; that  socialist  production  depends  on 
the  earliest  possible  crowding  out  of  small  in- 
dustry. Socialism  has,  it  is  therefore  thought, 
an  interest  in  the  disappearance  of  the  inde- 
pendent craftsman,  the  small  business  man  and 
the  small  farmer.  It  demands  their  ruin,  there- 
fore cannot  work  in  their  interest. 

In  answer  to  this  there  is  the  following  to  be 
said:  The  socialist  movement  does  not  create 
economic  development;  the  crowding  out  of 
small  industry  will  be  taken  care  of  without  its 
help  by  the  capitalist  class.  It  is  true  that  social- 
ism has  no  reason  for  attempting  to  hinder  this 
development.  But  to  stop  economic  develop- 
ment would  not  be  to  serve  the  real  interests  of 
the  small  farmers  and  business  men.  For  all 
attempts  to  this  end  must  remain  fruitless,  if 
they  do  not  cause  positive  harm.  To  propose  to 
the  independent  craftsman  or  farmer  measures 
by  which  their  small  concerns  can  once  more  be 
made  profitable,  would  not  be  in  any  sense  to 
serve  their  interests ;  the  only  effect  would  be 
to  arouse  illusions  which  could  not  be  realized. 

Furthermore,  although  the  downfall  of  small 
production  is  inevitable,  it  is  not  necessarily  ac- 
companied by  all  the  horrible  circumstances 
which  are  usually  connected  with  it.  We  have 
seen  that  the  disappearance  of  small  production 
is  only  the  last  act  of  a  long  drama.  The 
previous  acts  were  taken  up  by  the  painful  de- 
generation of  the  small  producer.  But  the 
socialist  movement  has    not    the    slightest    ad- 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  213 

vantage  to  gain  from  this  degeneration.  On  the 
contrary,  its  advantage  Hes  all  in  the  opposite 
direction.  The  more  degraded  the  groups  from 
which  the  proletariat  is  recruited  the  more  dif- 
ficult it  is  to  elevate  the  recruits  to  the  point  at 
which  they  are  willing  and  able  to  join  the  ranks 
of  the  militant  proletariat.  It  is  upon  the  ex- 
tension of  this  division  of  the  proletariat,  how- 
ever, that  the  size  and  strength  of  the  socialist 
movement  depend.  The  fewer  the  demands 
made  upon  society  by  the  farmer  or  independent 
craftsman,  the  more  accustomed  he  is  to  cease- 
less labor,  the  less  resistance  he  will  be  able  to 
offer  after  he  has  fallen  into  the  proletariat.  To 
a  certain  extent  the  same  'causes  which  bring 
about  the  international  solidarity  of  the  workers 
lead  to  a  solidarity  with  the  classes  wrom  which 
the  -proletariat  is  recruited. 

Of  course  if  the  sinking  farmer  or  small  busi- 
ness man  attempts  to  keep  his  head  above  water 
at  the  cost  of  the  working-class,  if,  for  example, 
he  tries  to  lower  wages  or  hinder  the  organiza- 
tion of  labor,  then  he  will  always  be  opposed  by 
the  proletariat  and  by  the  Socialist  Party.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  socialist  movement  does  all 
in  its  power  to  support  measures  which  are  cal- 
culated to  bring  about,  without  injury  to  the 
working-class,  an  amelioration  of  conditions  for 
the  farmer  and  small  business  man. 

This  appears  unmistakably  in  the  nature  of  the 
im.mediate  demands  which  the  socialist  parties  of 
different  lands  make  on  their  respective  govern- 
ments. Certain  of  these  demands  are  purel)'  in- 
dustrial  in   their   nature,   designed   especially   to 


214  THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE 

secure  the  protection  of  the  wage-earner.  But 
the  majority  are  concerned  with  interests  which 
the  proletariat  and  the  other  groups  of  the  labor- 
ing population  have  in  common.  These  include 
demands  for  such  reforms  as  an  income  tax,  the 
initiative  and  referendum,  freedom  of  press  and 
speech,  election  of  judges,  etc. 

Some  of  these  demands  are  included  in  the 
platforms  of  bourgeois  parties ;  others  can,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  be  formulated  only  by  an 
anti-capitalistic  organization.  And  no  bourgeois 
party  will  fight  for  them  with  th«  same  energ>' 
as  the  Socialist  Party.  For  this  is  the  only  party 
that  really  has  an  interest  in  relieving  non- 
capitalist  classes  of  their  burdens,  edncating  their 
children,  and  elevating  their  lives  in  general. 

Only  measures  of  the  sort  proposed  by  the 
Socialist  Party  are  calculated  to  improve  the 
position  of  the  small  producers  so  far  as  it  is 
possible  to  improve  it  under  existing  conditions. 
To  assist  them  as  producers  by  fortifying  them 
in  the  retention  of  their  outlived  method  of 
production,  is  impossible,  for  it  is  opposed  to  the 
course  of  economic  development.  It  is  equally 
impossible  to  make  capitalists  out  of  any  con- 
siderable number  of  them.  It  is  only  as  con- 
sumers that  the  mass  of  them  can  be  helped  at 
all.  But  it  is  precisely  the  parties  most  friendly 
to  the  small  producers  that  cast  upon  them,  as 
consumers,  the  heaviest  burdens.  These  burdens 
are  real,  but  the  elevation  of  small  production 
which  is  supposed  to  accompany  them,  is  nothing 
more  than  empty  pretense. 

To  assist  the  small  producer  in  his  character  of 


THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE  215 

consumer,  far  from  hindering  economic  develop- 
ment, is  a  means  of  promoting  it.  The  better  the 
position  of  the  small  farmer  or  small  capitalist 
as  consumer,  the  higher  his  standard  of  living, 
the  greater  his  physical  or  intellectual  demands, 
the  sooner  will  he  cease  the  struggle  against  in- 
dustry on  a  large  scale.  If  he  is  accustomed  to 
a  good  living  he  will  rebel  against  the  privations 
incident  to  a  protracted  struggle,  and  will  the 
sooner  prefer  to  take  his  place  with  the  pro- 
letariat. And  he  will  not  group  himself  with 
the  most  submissive  members  of  this  class  to 
which  he  has  joined  himself.  He  will  pass 
directly  into  the  ranks  of  the  militant,  purpose- 
ful proletarians,,  and  thus  hasten  the  victory  of 
the  proletariat. 

This  victory  will  not  be  born  out  of  degrada- 
tion, as  many  have  believed;  no  more  out  of  the 
degradation  of  the  small  producers  than  out  of 
that  of  the  proletariat.  -Socialism  has  as  much 
cause  to  oppose  degradation  on  the  one  side  as 
on  the  other,  and  it  does  so  to  the  best  of  its 
ability.  To  strengthen  the  socialist  movement, 
therefore,  is  to  the  interest,  not  only  of  the  wage- 
earners,  but  of  all  sections  of  the  population 
which  live  by  work  and  not  by  exploitation. 

The  small  business  men  and  farmers  have 
never,  since  the  beginning  of  the  modern  state, 
been  in  a  position  to  defend  their  interests  as 
against  the  interests  of  the  other  classes.  Today 
they  are  less  able  to  do  it  than  ever.  In  order  to 
fight  their  battles,  they  are  forced  to  unite  with 
one  or  more  of  the  other  classes.  The  instincts 
bred  by  the  ownership  of  property  drive  them 


216  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE 

into  the  arms  of  the  capitaHst  parties ;  that  is, 
into  coalition  with  one  of  the  various  groups  of 
great  property-owners.  The  capitaHst  parties 
themselves  seek  this  coalition,  in  part  because 
they  need  votes,  in  part  because  of  more  pro- 
found reasons.  They  know  that  today  the 
private  property  of  the  small  producers  is  the 
strongest  support  of  the  principle  of  private 
ownership  in  general,  and  therefore  of  their 
whole  system  of  exploitation.  To  the  good  of 
the  small  producer  they  are  indifferent.  They 
are  quick  to  burden  him  as  a  consumer;  so  far 
as  they  are  concerned,  it  makes  no  difference 
how  far  he  is  shoved  down,  so  loHg  as  his  small 
business  does  not  perish  utterly  and  he  thus  re- 
mains in  the  ranks  of  the  property-owners.  At 
the  same  time  all  the  bourgeois  parties  are  in- 
terested in  capitalist  exploitation,  hence  in  the 
progress  of  economic  development.  They  de- 
sire, indeed,  to  maintain  the  farmer  and  inde- 
pendent craftsman,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they 
do  everything  in  their  power  to  extend  the 
domain  of  industry  on  a  large  scale  and  thus  to 
suppress  all  forms  of  small  production. 

Quite  different  is  the  relation  between  the 
small  producer  and  the  socialist  movement. 
Even  if  socialism  can  do  nothing  to  maintain 
small  production,  the  small  producer  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  it.  It  is  the  capitalists,  not  the  pro- 
letarians, who  expropriate  the  farmer  and  crafts- 
man. The  victory  of  the  proletariat  is,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  previous  chapter,  the  only 
means  of  putting  an  end  to  this  exploitation.  As 
consumers,    moreover,    the    independent    small 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  217 

producers  have  the  same  interests  as  the  pro- 
letarians. They  have,  therefore,  every  reason  to 
protect  their  interests  by  joining  the  Socialist 
Party. 

It  is,  of  course,  not  to  be  expected  that  they 
will  quickly  recognize  this  fact.  But  the  stam- 
pede of  the  farmers  and  small  capitalists  from 
the  ranks  of  the  bourgeois  parties  has  already 
begun.  And  it  is  a  stampede  of  most  remark- 
able character,  for  it  is  the  best  and  bravest  who 
lead  the  way — not  to  desert  the  field  of  battle, 
but  rather  to  escape  from  the  petty  strife  for 
their  miserable  existence  into  the  gigantic, 
world-moving  struggle  for  the  institution  of  a 
society  which  shall  give  to  all  its  members  op- 
portunity to  share  in  the  great  conquests  of 
modern  civilization,  into  the  struggle  for  the 
emancipation  of  all  civilized  peoples,  yes,  of  all 
humanity,  from  the  bondage  of  a  system  which 
threatens  to  crush  it. 

The  more  unbearable  the  existing  system  of 
production,  the  more  evidently  it  is  discredited, 
and  the  more « unable  the  ruling  parties  show 
themselves  to  remedy  our  disgraceful  social  ills, 
the  more  illogical  and  unprincipled  these  parties 
become  and  the  more  they  resolve  themselves 
into  cliques  of  self-seeking  politicians,  the  great- 
er will  be  the  numbers  of  those  who  stream  from 
the  non-proletarian  classes  into  the  Socialist 
Party  and,  hand  in  hand  with  the  irresistibly 
advancing  proletariat,  follow  its  banner  to 
victory  and  triumph. 


What  Is  a  Man? 

That  is  a  very  old  question  and  there  have  been  many 
guesses  at  it.  Man  is  a  thinking  creature,  but  before 
he  became  a  thinker  he  was  an  animal.  Gradually  he 
developed — evolved,  as  we  say  today — and  became  a 
complex  being.  In  his  upward  growth  he  passed  through 
many  different  stages  and  changes.  What  the  nature 
of  that  evolution  has  been  and  the  mysteries  concerning 
himself  that  still  remain  are  the  considerations  taken  up 
by  M.  H.   Fitch  in  his  book, 

The   Physical  Basis  of 
Mind  and  Morals 

Though  never  extensively  advertised,  this  was  one  of 
the  books  most  in  demand  throughout  the  recent  Lyceum 
Lecture  Course  successfully  conducted  by  the  Socialist 
party,  showing  that  many  people  had  discovered  the 
book  for  themselves  and  had  told  of  its  merit.  It  is 
probably  the  best  and  most  comprehensive  statement  of 
the  evolutionary  theory  of  man  and  his  brain  extant.  It 
is  a  book  for  the  student  who  would  krow  and  under- 
stand. 

Cloth  bound,  427  pages,  large,  clear  type.  Price,  post- 
paid, $1.00.  Send  $1.00  for  a  year's  subscription  to  the 
International  Socialist  Review  and  get  it  for  50c.  Sent 
FREE  to  subscribers  for  the  Review  for  one  NEW  yearly 
subscription. 

CHARLES  H.  KERR  6  COMPANY 

341-349  EastOKlo  Street.  CKicago 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
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